Debating Humanism

Debating Humanism

edited by Dolan Cummings

Imprint Academic, November 2006

1-84540-069-0 (paperback), £8.95

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DEBATING HUMANISM is a collection of essays by speakers at the Battle of Ideas 2005, exploring what humanism might mean for the 21st century. More than to sleep and feed, to be human is to debate, to argue, to think out loud and to engage with the ideas and opinions of others. Over time we have developed countless languages, rituals and technologies to help us do this. And a recurring theme of debate is the very question of what it means to be human, and the nature of our relationship to the world, to each other and to gods or God. This has never been an idle debate: it is intimately bound up with how society is organised and where authority lies. Broadly speaking, the humanist tradition is one in which it is we as human beings who decide for ourselves what is best for us, and are responsible for shaping our own societies. For humanists, then, debate is all the more important, not least at a time when there is much discussion about the unexpected return of religion as a political force determining how we should live.

Contributors:

Dolan Cummings

Introduction

Dylan Evans

Secular Fundamentalism

Frank Furedi

The Legacy of Humanism

Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn

Morality and the Crisis of Secularisation

Anthony Freeman

Christian Humanism

Kenan Malik

Multiculturalism and the Politics of Identity

Daphne Patai

The Fading Face of Humanism

Andrew Copson

Humanism and Faith Schools

Dennis Hayes

Re-humanising Education

Josie Appleton

Recentring Humanity

Simon Blackburn

Humanism and the Transcendental

Bob Brecher

The Politics of Humanism