Volume 17.2, Fall - Winter 2009

A Humanist Narrative

Mason Olds

A narrative is a story. A novel is a fictitious story created by the author usually to entertain. An autobiography is a story that one tells of one’s own life, and a biography is the story that one tells about the life of another. A narrative poem, such as Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece tells a tragic story in verse. So there are many kinds of stories. Humans enjoy stories, and many take pleasure in writing them. Some stories are pure fantasy whereas others are about actual persons or events.

Martin Buber: A Rational Perspective On Human Meaning and Purpose

Kathleen O'Dwyer

The philosophy of Martin Buber evolves through the idealistic and romantic involvements of his early years to a personal and political realism inevitable in the light of the historical developments of his mature years.

What To Do About Religion: A Plan of Action

Allistair J. Sinclair

Humanists talk and write endlessly about religion but they don’t do much about it. Though religion is shown with great clarity to be irrelevant in this day and age, not a lot happens as a result. It is supposed to be in decline but there is no sign of its imminent demise. If the hot air of constant debate could blast away religion, it would be long gone. Voltaire famously cried: écrasez l’infâme!—“crush the wretched thing!” or “extinguish the abomination!” But it hasn’t gone away. In fact, by violently opposing people’s religious beliefs we may strengthen them. We try to make people more rational who already believe themselves to be quite rational enough, thank you very much.

Humanist Ethology

Robert D. Finch

Ethology is the study of animal behavior and consequently includes the morals and ethics of the human animal.  This essay concerns the question of how we might optimize our ethology in the broadest sense in order to live in the best possible way.  Assuming we are nontheists then the question becomes how we might construct an ethology based on human reason and serving our human motivations or, in other words, a humanist ethology.

"Man is the Master of Everything and Decides Everything": De-Constructing the North Korean Juche Axiom

Alzo David-West

This essay undertakes a critical de-construction of the core axiomatic principle of the North Korean Juche ideology: “Man is the master of everything and decides everything.” The author examines the axiom as an epistemic construction that structures human perception of objective reality, identifying fundamental philosophical problems in its binary opposition of “man” and “everything.” Despite official North Korean claims that Juche is an “original revolutionary philosophy” and a “man-centered philosophy,” critical analysis reveals that the axiom is nonsensical, that it has no genuine or real philosophical content, and that the Juche ideology is neither humanist nor materialist nor rationalist.

With Certainty, Competence, and Confidence

Charles W. Vail

When I was thirteen years old, my mother, having decided that I might improve my social and physical skills, signed me up for ballroom dancing lessons. My instruction in polkas, waltzes, and cha-chas concluded after a few weeks at a soiree with live music and refreshments. The evening of the big dance, we instructees were assembled, introduced to a panel of judges, and told that trophies would be awarded to the best dancers. Looking back, I danced that evening with far more hope than ability. Afterwards I was disappointed not to win a trophy, but not inconsolably so until, looking at my partner’s trophy, I realized that her name already had been engraved on the little brass plate affixed to the wooden base under the small loving cup.

Civilization Without Romance

James A. Montanye

Civilization, rather than being an alternative to the state of nature, is instead its efficient form. The instruments and institutions of civilization—economic and political structure, law, culture, religion, war, etc.—are manifestations of humankind’s genetic predispositions toward cooperation and reason. The fabric of civilization comprises behaviors and institutions that coalesce around core beliefs that need not be objectively true. The principal cost of civilization is defined by the social obligations that individuals are compelled to incur, and the opportunities for private benefit that they are compelled to forego, all for the sake of maintaining an optimal degree of civil unity and trust. Disputes about these costs give rise to culture wars, civil wars, and clashes between civilizations.