Everyday Humanism - Dale McGowan

Everyday Humanism - Dale McGowan

9. From a Human-Centered to a Life-Centered Humanism

Everyday Humanism - Dale McGowan

Henk Manschot [+-]
University of Humanistics
Henk Manschot, a member of the University for Humanist Studies faculty, is co-founder and Director of Kosmopolis, the Humanist Institute for Global Ethics and World Citizenship of the University for Humanistics in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Kosmopolis is dedicated to engaging in interdisciplinary research, teaching, training and networking and seeks to link questions of personal meaning and spirituality with social and political issues of human and sustainable development worldwide. His current research focuses on interconnections between human and sustainable development and on cosmo-political education. He is Vice-Chairman/Secretary of the Asia-Europe Foundation CEDESD and Head of the sector Dialogues, Leadership and Values. He is also Chairman of the Encounter of World Views Foundation. Manschot is a Graduate of the Sorbonne University in Paris, and he received his PhD from the Department of Philosophy of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Caroline Suransky [+-]
University of Humanistics
Caroline Šuranský is on faculty at the University for Humanist Studies (Utrecht). She studied philosophy of education at the University of Utrecht and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In 1998 she was awarded a grant to study the historical and political education ties between the Netherlands and South Africa at the University of Durban-Westville in South Africa. She worked from 1988 to 1998 at the same university as a lecturer in Curriculum Studies and coordinator of the Master’s program in “Teacher Education.” She is a Fellow of Cosmopolis (Humanist Institute for Global Ethics and World Citizenship) and co-founder and co-coordinator of the annual Summer School on Human Development and Human Rights, an initiative in collaboration with the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation (HIVOS).

Description

In this chapter, we argue the current ecological crisis is foremost a crisis of values. In order to address this crisis, we suggest worldviews, both religious and non-religious, including humanism, help us understand the emergence of the crisis, as well as being a value basis by means of which to redress the situation. We briefly delve into the history of humanism and conclude that humanists roots within the Renaissance, Enlightenment and Modernity offer an explanation as to why humanists seem to have neglected to respond in the name of humanism to the global ecological crisis. Subsequently, we will advocate a shift from a human-centered to a life-centered humanist worldview and we explore new possibilities for knowledge, passion and action as three dimensions of this shift.

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Citation

Manschot, Henk; Suransky, Caroline. 9. From a Human-Centered to a Life-Centered Humanism. Everyday Humanism. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 125-137 Nov 2014. ISBN 9781781790458. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=20502. Date accessed: 09 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.20502. Nov 2014

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