Editing Secular humanism (section)

{{Short description|Life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism}}
{{for-multi|other uses of humanism|Humanism (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Atheism and Irreligion Sidebar|expanded=irreligion}}
{{Humanism}}
{{Liberalism sidebar|expanded=liberalism}}

'''Secular humanism''' is a [[philosophy]], belief system, or [[life stance]] that embraces human [[reason]], [[logic]], [[secular ethics]], and [[philosophical naturalism]], while specifically rejecting religious [[dogma]], [[supernaturalism]], and [[superstition]] as the basis of [[morality]] and decision-making.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/cherry_18_1.01.html|title=10 Myths About Secular Humanism|author=Council for Secular Humanism|access-date=12 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512153115/http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/cherry_18_1.01.html|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="americanhumanist">{{cite web|title=What Is Humanism?|author=Edwords, Fred|url=http://www.americanhumanist.org/who_we_are/about_humanism/What_is_Humanism|year=1989|publisher=American Humanist Association|access-date=19 August 2009|quote=Secular Humanism is an outgrowth of eighteenth century enlightenment rationalism and nineteenth century freethought... A decidedly anti-theistic version of secular humanism, however, is developed by Adolf Grünbaum, 'In Defense of Secular Humanism' (1995), in his ''Collected Works'' (edited by Thomas Kupka), vol. I, New York: Oxford University Press 2013, ch. 6 (pp. 115–48)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130233229/http://www.americanhumanist.org/who_we_are/about_humanism/What_is_Humanism|archive-date=30 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="oxford-secularhumanism">{{Cite book|title=Compact Oxford English dictionary|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2007|quote=humanism ''n.'' 1 a rationalistic system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters.|publication-date = 2007}}</ref><ref name="humaniststudies">{{cite web|title=Definitions of humanism (subsection)|publisher=Institute for Humanist Studies|url=http://humaniststudies.org/humphil.html|access-date=16 January 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070118050402/http://humaniststudies.org/humphil.html|archive-date=18 January 2007}}</ref>

Secular humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral [[Irreligion|without religion]] or belief in a [[deity]]. It does not, however, assume that humans are either inherently [[Good and evil|good or evil]], nor does it present humans as being superior to nature. Rather, the humanist life stance emphasizes the unique responsibility facing humanity and the ethical consequences of human decisions. Fundamental to the concept of secular humanism is the strongly held viewpoint that ideology—be it religious or political—must be thoroughly examined by each individual and not simply accepted or rejected on faith. Along with this, an essential part of secular humanism is a continually adapting search for truth, primarily through [[science]] and [[philosophy]]. Many secular humanists derive their moral codes from a philosophy of [[utilitarianism]], [[ethical naturalism]], or [[evolutionary ethics]], and some advocate a [[science of morality]].

[[Humanists International]], founded by [[Julian Huxley]] and [[Jaap van Praag]], is the world union of more than one hundred humanist, [[rationalist]], irreligious, [[Atheism|atheist]], [[Brights movement|Bright]], [[Secularity|secular]], [[Ethical movement|Ethical Culture]], and [[freethought]] organizations in more than 40 countries. The "[[Happy Human]]" is recognized as the official symbol of humanism internationally, used by secular humanist organizations in every part of the world. 

The term itself is not uncontested. "Secular humanism" is not a universally used phrase, and is most prevalent in the United States. Most member organisations of Humanists International, for example, use simply the term "[[humanism]]" to refer to this concept, with some commentators remarking that "'hyphenated humanism' easily becomes more about the adjective than its referent".