Intro to Modern Humanism, part 2: Ancient Precursors of Humanism

The Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca (4?BCE-AD65) wrote, ""The time to live is now," and "Religion is recognized by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful". Like Epicureans, Stoics also emphasized ethics but also supported them using natural science and logic.

Much of the writings of ancient Greece and Rome were destroyed or lost during the Dark Ages that lasted from the 5th to the 14th centuries, but a renewed interest in those ideas emerged during the Renaissance that occurred in the 15th and 16th centuries. In part 3 of this essay, I will discuss both the precursors to Humanism during the Renaissance and the relationship between Renaissance Humanism and Modern Humanism.

A special thank you to Ed Buckner and associates of the Council for Secular Humanism for assisting me with this article.

References:

"Anaxagoras", "Aristotle", "Cicero", " "Cyrenaics", "Democritus", "Epicurus", "Lucretius", "Plato", "Protagoras", "Seneca" and "Socrates". Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation.

Gilbert, Mark. Famous Dead Nontheists, 1995-2001. http://www.visi.com/~markg/atheists.html (Aug. 2001)

"Humanist History" British Humanist Association. http://www.humanism.org.uk/humhist.asp (Aug. 2001)

Lamont, Corliss. Philosophy of Humanism. Humanist Press, Apr. 1997. p.34-37 http://www.corliss-lamont.org/philos8.htm (Aug. 2001)

Mooney, Jo Ann. "A Brief History of Secular Humanism" The Voice of Sanity Apr. 1007 http://home.earthlink.net/~joannmooney/v... (Aug. 2001)

Smith, George H. Why Atheism? Prometheus Books, 2000. p.175-6.

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