Although the humanism we see in many works in the field of literature and history is thought to be human love, it is actually a philosophical view that expresses much more than a subjective concept like love. Let’s examine in all details the questions that we have encountered in different ways for thousands of years, such as what is humanism, and who is a humanist person?
‘Love these people, be a little humanist.’ Humanism, a concept we hear frequently in today’s popular culture, is a philosophical view. The interesting thing is that even though it contains human in its essence, humanism and human love, which is a concept that differs for everyone, has little to do with it. This philosophical concept, which is considered close to secularism, In fact, it was developed against the ideas that put God in the center.
Many different philosophical thoughts argue that many different points should be taken as a basis while arranging social rules. According to humanism, this point is none other than human. Advocating that humanity should gather around a common consciousness and that dogmatic thoughts should never participate in it. Let’s take a closer look at what humanism is, let’s see its history and who is called a humanist person? Let’s look for the answer.
Let’s start with the basics, what is humanism?
Humanism, which is known as humanisme in French, has names such as human-orientedness and anthropocentrism in our language; laws and similar social rules are determined not by divine commands, but by It is a philosophical thought that argues that the human mind should be prioritized.
Rationalism, that is rationalism, and empiricism, that is, empiricism, which are evaluated together with humanism, in fact, clearly reveal what this idea advocates. rejecting the notion of God but theocentrism It can be evaluated together with secularism, which says that religious values should not rule society because it replaces it with anthropocentrism.
Definition of humanism in philosophy:
Even when we look at its most basic definition, we understand that humanism does not mean human love. It is a very scientifically based idea as it includes empiricism. He rejects the ideas that put God in the center and argues that the main thing to be satisfied in the formation of social rules is human.
It is considered by some philosophers because it prioritizes the pleasure and benefit of man, not the gods, while evaluating an action. integrated with ideas such as deism, atheism, and agnosticism. But these considerations also cannot fully meet humanism. Because humanism is basically not concerned with the existence of gods and similar supernatural powers. It is ethically based, has a secular stance and aims to liberate people by defending against all kinds of authority.
What does humanism mean in the process of finding the truth?
Like all philosophical thoughts, humanism is focused on finding the truth. Similar to rationalist thought, humanism accepts finding the truth as a human skill. However, he rejects the methods presented in methods such as mysticism, mysticism, tradition and which are not related to logic.
According to humanism, man has a desire to find the truth. One does not desire this desire by directly accepting the dogmatic truths. must satisfy with a scientific skepticism. But humanism rejects extreme skepticism, authority, and fatalism. What is wrong and right is reached by the correct perception of people’s personal and collective consciousness.
Humanism opposes the idea of speciesism in which man is superior:
According to systems of thought based on most dogmatic foundations, man is the supreme creature. So simply man is superior to nature. However Although humanism is human-based rejects it because it does not accept dogmas. Peter Singer, one of the most important representatives of humanism, expresses this view, which is also based on vegans, with the following sentences;
“Although there are many exceptions, most humanists are unable to free themselves from the ultimate dogma: prejudiced speciesism. Humanists must stand up to reckless exploitation of other species.”
According to humanists, the remedy for a better life is humanism:
We are aware that the subject sounds a little complicated, but the details are important. Humanism says that one can reach the truth by using his mind, but He is also conscious of human capacity. A person cannot sit alone and think about the good, the truth, or the moral values that are accepted as right or wrong in the history of humanity.
According to humanism, a person should be determined and head towards a goal with the help of other people. This goal is to enable people to develop and is to make life the best for all people living it. According to humanism, the goal of man is to do good things, to make the best of the present and to leave a better world for the future.
Brief history of humanism and thought of humanism in Ancient Greece:
Philosophers who laid the foundations of humanism thought to have lived in the 6th century BC. Thales of Miletus and Xenophanes of Colophon. Thales put self-knowledge in the center, while Xenophanes rejected the idea of god and argued that the sacred is the universe itself. Names such as Anaxagoras, Pericles, Protagoras and Democritos also mentioned scientific methods by putting human in the center apart from sacred values.
In the Golden Age of Islam, we come across many important names talking about humanism. Of course, the period when humanism saw its real peak is the European Renaissance. The word umanista, which refers to people who are interested in classical literature in the 15th century, evolved in the 19th century due to the mixing of humanism with the ideas of this period and became the name of this philosophical thought.
Representatives of humanism in world and Turkish literature and their characteristics:
Although humanism is a philosophical thought, its art, because of the strong relationship between philosophy and art, In particular, it had a direct impact on literature. In Turkish literature, it is possible to clearly see the effects of humanism in the works of names such as Sabahattin Eyüboğlu, Nurullah Ataç and Vedat Günyol.
When we look at world literature, Dante Alighieri, Michel de Montaigne, Giovanni Boccaccio, François Rabelais, Petrarca, Like Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare It is seen that important names directly or indirectly mention humanism in their works.
There are certain characteristics of the humanism movement in literature. According to this; the basis of art is people, Art is a reflection of nature, the main purpose of literature is to glorify people, fate has no role in events, there is no relationship between reason and religion, the narrative should be far from society but universal.
Who is called a humanist?
In many different sources, you can see that the person who loves people very much is a humanist. Even if this definition is correct up to a point does not fully correspond to the idea of humanism. Because, as we have clearly explained in its definition, thoughts such as loving the created for the sake of its creator and putting people in a superior position have no place in your human life.
When a person creates social rules if it puts people in the center, If he wants the world we live in to become better for people, if he accepts that the human mind is beyond all dogmatic thoughts but has a limit, and more importantly, if he works diligently for these thoughts, it is possible to call that person a humanist. So love is not everything.
Advocating that more than human love, people should be put in the center philosophical thought what is humanism By answering the question, we tried to find answers to the question of who is called a humanist person. You can share your thoughts about humanism in the comments.