Several alternatives to the Ten Commandments have been promulgated by different persons and groups, which intended to improve on the lists of laws known as the Ten Commandments that appear in the Bible. Lists of these kinds exist in many different cultures and times. They are sometimes given names – for example, the Hindu Yamas.
Examples
Bertrand Russell (1951)
Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist, and Nobel laureate. He formulated these ten commandments:
Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
Do not think it worthwhile to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your
husband or your children, endeavour to overcome it by argument and not
by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and
illusory.
Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement,
for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a
deeper agreement than the latter.
Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.
Anton LaVey (1967)
Anton Lavey was an American author, musician, and occultist. He was the founder of the Church of Satan and LaVeyan Satanism and published "The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth":
Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
When in another's home, show them respect or else do not go there.
If a guest in your home annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy.
Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and they cry out to be relieved.
Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires.
Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
Do not harm little children.
Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them.
Summum (1975)
Summum is an informal gathering of people registered as a tax exempt organization in the state of Utah, U.S., in 1975.
Summum contradicts the historical Biblical account of the Ten
Commandments by claiming that, before returning with the Commandments,
Moses descended from Mount Sinai with a first set of tablets inscribed with seven principles they call aphorisms.
According to the group, the seven principles are:
SUMMUM is MIND, thought; the universe is a mental creation.
Everything is dual; everything has an opposing point; everything has
its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are
identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes bond; all truths
are but partial truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.
Everything flows out and in; everything has its season; all things
rise and fall; the pendulum swing expresses itself in everything; the
measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the
left; rhythm compensates.
Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause; everything
happens according to Law; Chance is just a name for Law not recognized;
there are many fields of causation, but nothing escapes the Law of
Destiny.
Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; Gender manifests on all levels.
Serve neither foreign nor familiar "gods" but rather the great
ideal of ethics to lessen the suffering in the world. To possess
science, philosophy and art means not to need religion!
Behave fairly to your neighbour and also to those farthest away!
Have no fear of authorities, but rather the courage to reason for yourself!
You shall not lie, cheat, steal or kill – unless, in an emergency, there is no other way of asserting the ideals of humanity!
Free yourself from the bad habit of moralizing!
Do not immunize yourself against criticism!
Do not be too confident! But even doubt should be doubted!
Overcome any tendency towards tradition blindness by informing yourself in depth from all sides before making a decision!
Enjoy your life because it is highly probable that it will be the only one you have!
Put your life in the service of a "greater cause", become a part of
the tradition of those who desire(d) to make the world a better place in
which to live.
Richard Dawkins (2006)
Richard Dawkins
is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and author. These are
the alternative to the Ten Commandments, cited by Dawkins in his book The God Delusion:
Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the
world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.
Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but
always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly
regretted.
Live life with a sense of joy and wonder.
Always seek to be learning something new.
Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be
ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them.
Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.
Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.
Question everything.
Dawkins uses these proposed commandments to make a larger point that
"it is the sort of list that any ordinary, decent person today would
come up with". He then adds four more of his own devising:
Enjoy your own sex life (so long as it damages nobody else) and
leave others to enjoy theirs in private whatever their inclinations,
which are none of your business.
Do not discriminate or oppress on the basis of sex, race or (as far as possible) species.
Do not indoctrinate your children. Teach them how to think for
themselves, how to evaluate evidence, and how to disagree with you.
Value the future on a timescale longer than your own.
Christopher Hitchens (2010)
Christopher Hitchens was an English American author, columnist, essayist, orator, religious and literary critic, social critic, and journalist.
His new Ten Commandments are:
Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or their color.
Do not ever even think of using people as private property, or as owned, or as slaves.
Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in sexual relations.
Hide your face and weep if you dare to harm a child.
Do not condemn people for their inborn nature — why would God create
so many homosexuals only in order to torture and destroy them?
Be aware that you, too, are an animal, and dependent on the web of nature. Try and think and act accordingly.
Do not imagine that you can escape judgement if you rob people with a false prospectus rather than with a knife.
Turn off that cell phone — you can have no idea how unimportant your call is to us.
Denounce all jihadists and crusaders for what they are: psychopathic
criminals with ugly delusions. And terrible sexual repressions.
Be willing to renounce any god or any faith if any holy commandments should contradict any of the above.
In short: Don't swallow your moral code in tablet form.
Bayer and Figdor's Ten Non-Commandments (2014)
As detailed in the book Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart: Re-writing the Ten Commandments for the Twenty-first Century by Lex Bayer and the Stanford Humanist Chaplain John Figdor,
it is devoted to the subject of creating a secular alternative to the
Ten Commandments and encouraging readers to formulate and discover their
own list of beliefs.
The world is real, and our desire to understand the world is the basis for belief.
We can perceive the world only through our human senses.
We use rational thought and language as tools for understanding the world.
All truth is proportional to the evidence.
There is no God.
We all strive to live a happy life. We pursue things that make us happy and avoid things that do not.
There is no universal moral truth. Our experiences and preferences shape our sense of how to behave.
We act morally when the happiness of others makes us happy.
We benefit from living in, and supporting, an ethical society.
All our beliefs are subject to change in the face of new evidence, including these.
The Atheists' New Ten Commandments (2015)
These
are the ten winning beliefs of the Rethink Prize, a crowdsourcing
competition to rethink the Ten Commandments. The contest drew more than
2,800 submissions from 18 countries and 27 U.S. states. Winners were
selected by a panel of judges.
Be open-minded and be willing to alter your beliefs with new evidence.
Strive to understand what is most likely to be true, not to believe what you wish to be true.
The scientific method is the most reliable way of understanding the natural world.
Every person has the right to control of their body.
God is not necessary to be a good person or to live a full and meaningful life.
Be mindful of the consequences of all your actions and recognize that you must take responsibility for them.
Treat others as you would want them to treat you, and can reasonably
expect them to want to be treated. Think about their perspective.
We have the responsibility to consider others, including future generations.
There is no one right way to live.
Leave the world a better place than you found it.
Ten Indian Commandments (not dated)
The Bird Clan of East Central Alabama has the Ten Native American Commandments.
Remain close to the Great Spirit.
Show great respect for your fellow beings.
Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.
Be truthful and honest at all times.
Do what you know to be right.
Look after the well being of mind and body.
Treat the earth and all that dwell there on with respect.
Take full responsibility for your actions.
Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good.
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the potential and agency of human beings, individually and socially. It considers human beings as the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term humanism has fluctuated according to the
successive intellectual movements which have identified with it.
Generally, however, humanism refers to a perspective that evolves around
human wellbeing and advocates for human freedom, autonomy and progress.
It views humanity as responsible for the promotion and development of
individuals, espouses the equal and inherent dignity of all human
beings, and emphasizes a concern for humans in relation to the world. In
the 20th century and beyond, humanist movements are typically non-religious movements aligned with secularism, and today humanism may refer to a nontheisticlife stance centered on human agency and looking to science and reason rather than revelation from a supernatural
source to understand the world. Humanists tend to be strong advocates
for Human Rights, free speech, progressive policies and democracy. They
maintain that religion is not a precondition to morality and object to
religious involvement in education and the state apparatus. Humans,
according to humanists, can shape their own values, and live a good and
meaningful life.
Roots of humanism can be traced in ancient Greek philosophy, that
prioritize on human morality. In other parts of ancient world, thought
resonating humanistic though appeared also. It was in the Renaissance,
that the interest in classical literature was renewed and humanistic
ideas begun to evolve once again. Advances in science, technology and
philosophy during enlightenment fostered secular worldviews creating
many rational and ethical associations and currents in the 19th century,
that were merged in the 20th century to form secular humanist
associations.
Humanism has been traditionally questioned on its metaphysics and
relation to truth and freedom. Contemporary critiques claim that
because of perpetuating biases humanism is a vehicle for continued
oppression.
Etymology and definition
The word "humanism" derived from the Latin concept humanitas, firstly used by Cicero
to describe values related to liberal education, something like today's
arts, philosophy, history, literature . The word resurfaced during the
Italian Renaissance as umanista reaching the English language in the sixteenth century. The world was not used as an -ism but as an -ist to describe a group of people studying and advocating education based on classical literature. In the early 19th century, it was used in Germany as humanismus
with various meanings and from there, it re-entered English language
with two distinct denotations, one linked to the study of classic
literature, that remained an academic term, while the other one was more
popularized and signified a non religious approach to life, implying an
antithesis to theism. Most probably, it was Bavarian theologian Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer who coined the term Humanismus to describe the new classical curriculum he planned to offer in German secondary schools. Soon, the world was adopted by other scholars such as Georg Voigt and Jacob Burckhardt.
In the 20th century, the word was refined further reaching its
contemporary meaning signifying a naturalistic approach to life,
focusing on the wellbeing and freedom of humans.
Providing a definition of humanism is a difficult task, revealing
the controversy surrounding humanism. One one hand, humanism is defined
as a champion of human freedom and dignity, on the other, it is linked
to oppression (via being a byproduct of modernity). In 1974, philosopher Sidney Hook
defined humanism, or humanists by negative characteristics. Firstly,
humanists are against imposition of one culture in various
civilizations, do not belong to a church or established religion,
neither do they support dictatorships, justify violence for social
reforms or they are loyal to an organization more than their abstract
values. He also adds some positive characteristics, humanists are for
eliminating hunger and improving health, housing and education. Also writing in 1974, for humanist philosopher H. J. Blackham is a concept focusing on improving the social conditions of humanity, increasing autonomy and dignity of all humans. More recently, in 1999, Jeaneane D. Fowler
sees that definition of humanism should include both rejection of
divinity and emphasis on human wellbeing and freedom. She also comments
that there is a lack of commonly shared belief system or a doctrine, but
in general, humanists are aiming for happiness and self-fulfillment.
In 2015, prominent humanist Andrew Copson, drew five lines in his attempt to capture the essence of humanism, as follows:
Humanism is naturalistic in his understanding of the universe;
science and free inquiry will help us comprehend more and more about
what is surrounding us.
This scientific approach does not reduce humans anything lesser than human beings.
Humanists insist on the importance of pursuit of a self-defined meaningful and happy life.
Humanism is moral with morality being a way of humans improving our lives.
Humanists engage in practical action to improve personal and social condition.
The international organization of humanists
defines it as "Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which
affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give
meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a
more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural
values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human
capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural
views of reality". Dictionary definition place humanism as a worldview or life stance. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary
humanism is "...a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human
interests or values; especially: a philosophy that usually rejects
supernaturalism and stresses an individual’s dignity and worth and
capacity for self-realization through reason."
History
Predecessors
Pre-Socratic
Greek philosophers were the first western philosophers to first to
attempt to explain the world in terms of human reason and laws within
the nature, without escaping to myth, tradition or religion, thus can be
said to be the first Greek humanists. Sixth-century BCE
Thales of Miletus, along with the rest of Milesian school (his pupil
Anaximander and Anaximenes) led this demythologization attempt and
asserted that nature is available to be studied separately from the
supernatural realm.
Another pre-socratic philosopher, Protagoras, who flourished in Athens
at c. 440 BCE resonated some ideas fundamental to humanism. Only some
fragments survive from his work. He made one of the first agnostic
statements, according to one fragment: "About the gods I am able to
know neither that they exist nor that they do not exist nor of what kind
they are in form: for many things prevent me for knowing this, its
obscurity and the brevity of man's life. (80B4 DK)
While we are not familiar with the surrounding text, prof Mauro Bonazzi
claims that seems that it was an attempt by Protagoras to distance
religion from politics and a key concept in his radical humanism. Another well debated axiom of Protagoras is that "man is the measure of all things".
While attacked for its moral relativism and inconsistency since the age
of Plato, humanists pointed to placing humankind to the centre of the
universe while 20th century philosopher Schiller, in defending
Protagoras noted that by the word "man", Protagoras refers to humankind
rather than separate individuals. Worth noting that contemporary Humanism does not endorse moral relativism. Socrates also spoke of the need to know thyself,
changed the focus of the then philosophical currents from nature to
human and his wellbeing. Socrates, being a theist but executed for
atheism nonetheless, investigated the nature of morality by reasoning.
Classical Greece philosopher Aristotle (384 -322 BCE) rationalism and
his human nature based ethicism also parallels humanist thought. In the 3rd century BCE, Epicurus formed an influential human-centred philosophy on achieving eudaimonia.
Epicurians continued Democritus atomist theory- a materialistic theory
that suggested that the fundamental unit of the universe was an
indivisible atom. Human happiness, living well, friendship and avoidance
of excesses were the key ingrediencies of Epicurian philosophy that
flourished in the post Hellenic world and beyond.
The philosophy of Confucius (551–479 BCE), which eventually became the basis of the state ideology of successive Chinese dynasties and nearby polities in East Asia,
while not a predecessor to modern humanism, contains several humanistic
traits, placing a high value on human life and discounting mysticism
and superstition, including speculations on ghosts and an afterlife.
Confucianism is best consider as a religious form of humanism since it
supernatural phenomena do have a central place in it, as Heaven (tian)
which supposedly guides the world.In the Analects of Confucius,
humanistic features are apparent- such as respectfulness,
reasonableness, kindness, and enthusiasm for learning.A fundamental
teaching of Confucious was on how a person could achieve chün‐tzu
(nobleness, just, kind)- education was of critical importance. Without
religious appeals, Confucius adviced people to act according to an axiom
which is the negative mirror of western golden rule.Is
there one word that one can act upon throughout the course of one's
life?" The Master said, "Reciprocity [shu] – what you would not want for
yourself, do not do to others"' (Analects 15:23) After Confucious
death, his discipline Mencius371–289
BCE) centered his philosophies on secular, humanistic concerns, like
the nature of good governance and the role of education, rather than
ideas founded on the state or folk religions of the time Early Taoism and Buddhism, also harbor humanistic characteristics.
Ancient Greek literature was translated in Arabic during at the Abbasid Caliphate
during the 8th and 9th centuries, fertilized Islamic currents with
rationalism. Many medieval Muslim thinkers pursued humanistic, rational and scientific discourses in their search for knowledge, meaning and values. A wide range of Islamic writings on love, poetry, history and philosophical theology show that medieval Islamic thought was open to the humanistic ideas of individualism, occasional secularism, skepticism, and liberalism, and free speech, while various school were established at Baghdad, Basra and Isfahan. A prominent example is philosopher Al-Jubba'i
whose support to individual freedom is highlightened by his quote: "God
created humans as free. The one who can make good decisions about his
faith is the person himself. Nobody is allowed to decide for you how to
think. It depends on your human beliefs" Other philosophers also advance
the rational discourse in Islamic literature to among them were Ahmad Miskawayh (940–1030), Ibn Sina (980–1037), Ibn Rushd (1126–1198), some (Nasr Abu Zayd and an‐Naim) even went afar as supporting separation of religious and state instructions.
David of Michelangelo. Artistic work during the Renaissance illustrates the emphasis given to anatomical details of humans.
In the 14th century, humanist ideas spurred in Italy. It was an era
when the Catholic Church was deeply corrupted interest in Greco-Roman
literature was renewed while fresh scientific discoveries undermined
faith in holy scriptures.
Scholars were interested in a non-religious study of classical texts.
The close circle of intellectual involved managed to keep a distance
from religion, since greco-roman text preceded Christianity. Artistic work by Leonardo Da Vinci or Michelangelo and others celebrated human body and mind, expressing their optimism to human potential, was leaning towards naturalism.
Enabled by the discovery of printing, along with other Italian
Renaissance's ideas, educational and humanistic views travelled to other
European centers, libraries and universities.
But it was not an easy ride for the early scientists, Catholic Church
had a very hostile attitude towards those who contradicted biblical
truths as it was the case with Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei. Lutheran Reformation
brought to an end renaissance humanism. For Luther, God should be in
the focus of our philosophy and life. Even though, Luther acknowledged
the importance of education and humanist ideas were not completely
eradicated.
Ancient Greek thought, particularly Aristotle, was discovered by
Italian scholars through their Arabic translations in Africa and Spain. One of the first centers of Greek literature revival was Padua. There Lovato Lovati and others, passionately studied ancient text and authored new literary works. Other centers were at Verona, Naples, and at Avignon. A significant figure was Petrarch, often referred as the father of humanism.
Petrarch, who was raised in Avignon, showed an inclination to education
at a very early age and studied along his father who was also well
educated. His enthousiasm for ancient text lead him to the discovery of
influential manuscripts for the history of renaissance, such as Cicero's
Pro Archia and Pomponius Mela De chorographia. Petrarch wrote poems (such as Canzoniere and De viris illustribus) and other works in Latin, where he resonated humanist ideas and his love for antiquity was evident.
It was in education that the humanists' program had the most
lasting results, their curriculum and methods. Humanists insisted on the
importance of classical literature in providing intellectual
discipline, moral standards and a civilised taste for the elite, an
educational approach that reached contemporary Era.
Enlightenment
During Enlightenment, humanistic ideas resurfaced, this time more afar from religion and classical literature.
Science, reason and intellectuallism advanced. God was replaced by mind
as the mean to understand world. Divinity was no longer dictating human
morals and humanistic values as anti-slavery, toleration started to
take shape. Technological discoveries that changed the life of the many,
allowed for ordinary people to face religion with a new morality, more
confident about humankind and its abilities.
New philosophical, social and political ideas appeared. Thinkers moved
even to totally rejecting theism, various currents were formed, atheism,
deism or hostility to organized religion. Notably during Enlightenment, Baruch Spinoza redefined God to signifying the totality of Nature; Spinoza was accused of atheism but remained silent on the matter. Naturalism was also advance by prominent Encyclopédistes. Baron d'Holbach authored the polemic System of Nature claiming that religion was built on fear and helped tyrants through the ages. Diderot and Helvetius also combined their materialism with sharp political critique.
It was during the enlightenment, the abstract conception of
humankind started shaping- a critical turning point for the construction
of humanist philosophy. Previous appeals to Men, now shifted towards Man. This is evident in political documents, like the Social Contract (1762) of Rousseau where he proclaims "Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains". Likewise, Thomas Pain at Rights of Man used the singular form of the world- revealing a universal conception of Man In parallel, Baconian empirisism, even though not being humanism per se, paved the way for Thomas Hobbes materialism.
From Darwin to current era
French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798-1857) introduced the idea of "religion of humanity" (sometimes attributed to Thomas Paine),
an atheist cult based on some humanistic tenets, which had some
prominent members but soon declined. Nonetheless, it was influential
during the 19th century and its humanism and rejection of
supernaturalism was echoed in the works of later authors such as Oscar Wilde and George Holyoake (who coined the word secularism), George Eliot, Emile Zola and E.S. Beesly, further re-enforcing and popularizing the conception of humankind. Paine's The Age of Reason along with German 19th-century Biblical criticism of the HegeliansDavid Friedrich Strauss and Ludwig Feuerbach, both discussing the importance of freedom, created various forms of humanism.
Further advances in science and philosophy erode religious belief
even more. Charles Darwin theory of natural selection offered
naturalists an explanation for the plurality of species, declining the
previous convincing teleological argument for the existence of God.
Darwins theory also implied that humans were just another species,
contracting traditional theological view that humans were something more
than just that.
Philosophers (i.e. Ludwig Feuerbach, Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx)
attacked religious on various grounds, and theologians (David Strauss,
i.e. Julius Wellhausen) questioned the Bible.
In parallel, utilitarianism was developed in Britain, due to the works
of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism, a moral
philosophy, centered its attention to human happiness, aiming to
eliminate human and animal pain, and in doing so, opinions related to
supernatural phenomena should not be considered.
In Europe and the US, along with philosophical critique of theistic
beliefs, large parts of society abandoned or distanced themselves from
religion. Ethical societies were formed, paving the way for the
contemporary humanist movement. Advances of previous centuries, made it easy for humanism and other non religious attitudes to flourish in the western world. Bertrand Russell's advocacy of atheism at Why I Am Not a Christian
popularized even more the humanist ideas. But even in liberal
countries, discriminations in educational system and elsewhere against
non-believers, still exist. In the ongoing social debates, humanists are
constant supporters of civil liberties. In other parts of the world, mostly at Islamic countries, non religious people are persecuted.
The rise of rationalism and scientific method was followed by the
birth of many rationalist or ethical associations in the late 19th
century, such as the National Secular Society, the Ethical Union and the Rationalist Press Association, in Britain, while in the other coast of atlantic American Ethical Union emerged from various newly founded small ethicist societies. In the 20th century, humanism was further promoted by the thougt and work of philosophers as A.J. Ayer, Antony Flew and Bertrand Russell.
In 1963, the British Humanist Association was formed by the merging of
smaller ethical and rationalist groups. Humanist organization were
flourishing elsewhere in Europe as well. In Netherlands, the Dutch Humanist Alliance gained a wide base of support after World War II. In Norway, the Norwegian Humanist Association also gained popular support.
In the United States, humanism evolved with the aid of significant
figures of Unitarian Church. Humanist magazines appear such as The New Humanist which published the Humanist Manifesto I
in 1933. The American Humanist Association (AHA) was established in
1941 and as some European counterparts, gained popular success. It
spread to all states and some prominent public figures have been, or
still are, members as Isaac Asimov, John Dewey, Erich Fromm, Paul Kurtz, Carl SaganGene Roddenberry among others.
Humanist organizations from all continents have created the
International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), now known as Humanists
International. Humanists International works to promote the humanist
agenda, via United Nation (having a consultative status), UNESCO and
UNICEF.
Types and adjectives to humanism
Through the time, various adjectives have been attached to humanism.
Religious humanism, is a term used in early 20th century by
naturalists who view their humanism as a religion, and even participated
in church-like congregations. Religious humanism appeared mostly in the
US and now is practically non-existed. American Humanist Association roots are to be found in religious humanism.
The same term (religious humanism) has also been used by religious
group to self describe themselves, as the quackers, but the term is
somewhat misused in those cases.
In the internet era, it is circulated by unreliable sources that
contemporary humanism is the sum of secular and religious humanism,
which is fault; contemporary humanism rejects any kind of supernatural
phenomena.
"Renaissance humanism" is the name later given to a tradition of
cultural and educational reform engaged in by civic and ecclesiastical
chancellors, book collectors, educators, and writers, who by the late
fifteenth century began to be referred to as umanisti—"humanists". It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries. Whilst modern's humanism roots can be traced in renaissance, it differs vastly. Christian humanism
was a historical current in the late Middle Ages, where Christian
Scholars combined Christian faith with interest in classical antiquity
and focusing on human wellbeing.
Political humanism, to describe movements as marxism and
communism, are also a misuse of the term, since these political
ideologies do not value freedom of speech and political dissent. Ethical humanism focused on relations between humans, was prominent in USA in early 20th century. Scientific humanism was affirming the belief on scientific method, was advanced by the works of Dewey and John Huxley.
Secular humanism has been coined more recently, in the mid-20th
century. Initially, it was an attempt to demote humanism, but was
embraced by some humanists associations initially. It is synonymous to the contemporary humanist movement.
Philosophical grounding of humanism
Education, reason, individualism and a strong belief in the
universal human nature are the core elements of humanistic thought.
Atheism, which is common among humanists, is a byproduct of reason
embracing science.
Humanists believe in the fundamental part of education, forming human nature.
Humanists emphasize on the unity of brain and body- traditional ideas
in western countries have emphasize the priority of mind over body. This
is objected by humanists who see it as a false dichotomy. Sex education
will help pupils and future adults understand and express their
feelings, physical education to promote health, moral education by
sympathy and tolerance, while the culture of examinations is considered
unhelpful- it does not let children focus on their passions, nor it
promotes deeper thinking.
Humanists also are against religious education at school, mostly
because they are against indoctrination. The common contra-argument they
face is that parents have the right to upbring their children in the
way they want, humanists reply that parents do not own their children,
and hence do not have such a right while children should be raised in a
way they could be able to make their own choices- that is the meaning of
respecting their autonomy.
Humanism is strongly based on reasoning.
For humanists, not only humans are reasonable beings, but they consider
reasoning (and hence scientific method) as the mean towards truth. Reasoning along science have gained widespread approval since its tremendous successes in various fields the last decades.
On the other hand, appeals to irrationality, invoking supernatural
phenomena, testimonials about various events have failed to explain the
world in a coherent way. One form of irrational thinking is adducing
hidden agencies to explain natural phenomena or diseases yielding in a
range of claims but Humanists are skeptical towards these kinds of
explanations.
Human autonomy is the hallmark of humanist philosophy. For someone to be autonomous, both beliefs and actions of a person, must be the result of her own reasoning. Humanists see autonomy what dignifies each individual- without autonomy, people are reduced to less than humans.
They also consider human essence to be universal, irrespective of race
or social status, diminishing the importance of collective identities,
signifying the importance of individual.
Themes
Humanism and morality
Humanism has a secular approach on morality.
Humanism reject supernatural springs of morality, not only because of
the rejection of extra-natural phenomena as a whole, but also because of
their inconsistencies. The popular belief of linking religion to
morality has been highlighted by Dostoevsky's axiom at The Brothers Karamazov "If God does not exist, then everything is permitted", and its subtle suggestion that chaos will ensue if belief in case of religion disappears. For humanism, belief in theism is neither a precondition for morality, it is rather an obstacle. Humanists point to the subjectivity of the alleged objective divine commands by referring to the Euthyphro dilemma:
God commands people to act good, to be pious- that has two different
reads: i)that goodness is independent from God; God does not make
something good, therefor he is not omnipotent and creator of everything,
and since morality is independed, humans may reach morality without
god. ii)A second answer might be that God created morality- that opens
the door to relativism.
Another point, is that interpretation of holy scriptures almost always
includes human reasoning, with interpreters reaching quite contradictory
theories, indicating that morality is based on human reasoning. Also, acting out of fear or blind adherence to a dogma, expecting rewards doesn't sound moral, it is rather selfish motivation.
Humanist attitude towards morality has changed through the
centuries. During modern era, starting at the 18th century, humanist
were oriented towards an objective and universalist stance to ethics.
Utilitarian philosophy (aiming to increase human happiness-decrease
human suffering) and Kantian ethics (Act only according to that maxim
whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a
universal law) shaped the humanist moral narrative until the early 20th
century, but since basic concept as Free Will and reason were not based
on scientific naturalism, their influence remained but was reduced in
the early 20th century among humanists by social progressiveness and
egalitarianism.
Contemporary humanism considers morality a natural phenomenon
that evolves with and around society. Morality is seen as a tool aiming
for human flourishing rather than a set of doctrines. As writes:
"Humanism is that ethical philosophy which regards humans and their
moralities naturalistically; understands the proper functioning of
morality and culture for their contributions to human flourishing in
this life; regards every human being as equally worthy of moral
treatment and protection; respects how people are highly social and need
communal encouragement and support; promotes the capacity of
intelligence for evaluating and modifying morality and wider cultural
ways; privileges individual dignity and autonomy over the necessary but
subordinate goals of cultural or political groups; and encourages
ethical ideals promoting human intelligence and flourishing that all
cultures can reasonably support."
Along with the social changes state-nations faced in the late 20th
century, humanist ethics evolved also to be a constant voice supporting
secularism, civil rights, personal autonomy, religious toleration,
multiculturalism and cosmopolitism.
Humanist philosopher Brian Ellis argues for a social humanist theory of morality, the social contractual utilitarianism,
which is takes from Hume's naturalism and empathy, Aristotelian virtue
theory, and Kant's idealism. Morality according to Ellis should aim
happiness, or more precisely eudaimonism, an Aristotelian concept that combines a satisfying life with virtue and happiness, by improving societies in a global scale. Humanist Andrew Copson
takes a consequentialist and utilitarian approach to morality.
According to Compson, the various humanist ethical traits, all aim and
reflect around human welfare. Philosopher Stephen Law
emphasizes principles of humanist ethics: respect for personal moral
autonomy, reject god given moral commands, is aiming in human wellbeing
and forth "...humanists emphasize the role of reason in making moral
judgements"
Relation to religion
Humanism is a naturalistic philosophy-
it rejects, gods, angels, immortal souls and all supernatural
phenomena. The universe is natural and can be studied by science.
While opposition to the various forms of theism might come from many
philosophical or historical domains, the most convincing arguments in
terms of public opinion, is naturalism. Historical arguments fail to
convince the public because historical research is often open to
interpretation.
Arguments of aesthetic (classical literature is far more touching human
souls than holy scriptures) or ethical ones (stance of religion on
slavery, gay rights, racism) also fail to convince large parts of the
population on the same grounds. Driven by the successes of science and technology, naturalistic arguments gain prominence in public opinion.
On the other hand, traditional arguments for the existence of God
are falling short. Ontological argument (roughly, God exist because we
can think of Him) lacks empirical evidence and seemingly lacks
understanding of the reality. Cosmological argument (how it all begun,
what is the first cause) also doesn't prove God existence since other
causes, or prime movers (ie physical entities, mass or energy or
something else) might have been the causal cause of universe.
Teleological argument (who designed the universe) has been eliminated by
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. The failure of
rational arguments to prove God existence, don't prove that God doesn't
exist.
More popular causes of religious belief is personal experiences - that
is also problematic, because personal experiences are vague and subject
to interpretation, wishful thinking might also lead the way to
likelihood conclusions.
While humanism was founded as antithetic to religious
establishments, religious views are not totally incompatible with
humanism. Many deists for example (as Mary Wollstonecraft, Voltaire, Thomas Paine)
had views resonating with a humanistic approach to life- since God does
not interfere with our daily life nor it commands our action, a
humanistic perspective can espouse.
Also many humanist have an anthropological interest in religions- how
they evolved, matured, affect morality, and other features of human
condition.
Meaning of Life in humanism and wellbeing
In the 19th century the problem of the meaning of life, arose, along
with the retraction of religion and its accompanied teleology, puzzling
both society and philosophers since. Contrary to religions, humanism do not have a definite answer on the question of the meaning of life.
Humanists commonly reply that we do not discover meaning, we create the
meaning. While many philosophers authored on the meaning of life in a
godless world (from Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzche) it was Albert Camus whose work echoed and shaped humanism. In The Myth of Sisyphus,
Sisyphus, the absurd hero, is destined to push a heavy rock up to a
hill, only for the rock to slip back and start all over again.
Personal humanist answers may vary from pursuit of happiness- without
recklessness and excesses, being part to human history, to connect with
beloved ones, or even living animals and plants. Some answers are not far from the religious discourse if appeal to divinity is overlooked.
Humanist professor Peter Derkx, identifies the features that that
contribute to the meaning of life: having a purpose in life, that is
morally worthy, evaluating positive of yourself, being able to
understand the environment around you, being seen and be understood by
people around you, the ability to connect emotionally with other people
and a desire to have a meaning in life.Humanist professor Anthony B. Pinn
places the meaning of life in the quest of what he calls "complex
subjectivity". Pinn, who is advocating for a non-theistic humanistic
religion, inspired from African cultures, sees that seeking the
never-reaching meaning of life contributes to well-being. Pinn argues
that during rituals and ceremonies, which are time for reflection,
provide opportunity to assess the meaning of life arise, improving
wellbeing.
Wellbeing and living a Good life, has been in the center of
humanist reflection. For humanists, wellbeing is intertwined with
values, that stem out of the meaning of life, that each human sets for
herself. Humanist philosopher Bertrand Russell described the good life as "inspired by love, guided by knowledge".
Also in general terms, A.C. Grayling noted that good life "it is the
life that feels meaningful and fulfilling to the one living it".
Despite of the platitudes, humanism dose not have a doctrine of good
life, neither does it offer any certainties, each person calls his
shoots in his quest for a good life, without the expense of others. For humanists, is of vital importance the option for a meaningful and fulfilling life, is open to all members of society.
Humanism in politics
Humanism emphasizes on individual freedom, openness of the society
and secularism. For humanism, freedom of individual is priority and any
restriction placed upon due to communal living should be well
justified; so humanism is leaning towards liberalism. Humanists see that
society should include all members, independent of race, religion,
sexual orientations.
Humanism defends secularism. Secularism is deemed fairer in comparison
with theocracy by humanists, since they argue, it protects from
discrimination; they also see that secularism protects the plurality of
modern societies and preserve personal autonomy.
Humanism is at odds with conservativism that stands on natural wisdom,
relies on long‐standing tradition, tries to preserve Christian values -
all these contain elements that are not desirable to the society
necessarily since xenophobia, bigotry, animal cruelty and so long, are
also in the bag of our heritage. Also stands against the irrationality of nationalism and totalitarianisms (be it fascist or Marxist–Leninist communism)
Humanism has been part of political philosophies of both major
20th ideological currents - liberalism and Marxism. Early socialism of
the 19th century, was connected to humanism. After the prevalence of
Marxism, a humanistic branch of Marx interpretation focused on early
Marx (contrary to "Scientific communism").
Liberalism, in the US, is associated mostly to humanistic principles,
which is distinct from the European use of the same word that has
economical connotations.
Post World War, Jean‐Paul Sartre and other French existentialist
advocated for humanism, tying it to socialism, while trying to stay
neutral during Cold War.
Practically, humanism advocate for democracy, champions human rights and progressive policies.
Humanist psychology and counselling
Humanist counselling is the applied phycology inspired by humanism,
which is one of the major currents of counselling. There are various
approach, either by discussing and critical thinking, replying to
existential anxiety or focusing on social and political dimensions of
various problems.
Humanist counseling focus on respecting worldview of client and placing
it in the right cultural context. The approach emphasizes an
individual's inherent drive towards self-actualization
and creativity. It also pays importance to moral questions, how someone
interacts, or should with people around him, according to his
worldview. This is examined by a process of dialogue.
Generally, humanist counselling aspires in assisting persons to live a
good, fulfilling and meaningful live by continual interpretation and
reflection. Humanist counselling has it roots to post-World War II Netherlands.
Humanistic counselling, a different term from humanist counselling, is based on the works of psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
It introduced a positive, humanistic psychology in response to what
they viewed as the overly pessimistic view of psychoanalysis in the
early 1960s. Other sources include the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology.
Organized humanism and ceremonies
Humanist organizations exist in various countries. Humanists UK (former British Humanist Association) and American Humanist Association are two of the most historical bodies of humanists. Humanists International is the global organization of humanists.
Humanists UK have been providing ceremonies for wedding, naming, coming
of age and funerals. Stephen Law, defending this practice, argues that
ceremonies and rituals exist in our culture, not because they have a
magical effect to the participant, they rather help humans express
deeply felt emotions.
Humanists UK base in London. They have ~28 thousand members and a
budget a little above £1.1 to cover operational costs. Some
high-profile people are members of the association, such as Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox, Salman Rushdie, Polly Toynbee, Stephen Fry
to name a few). They are mostly known for their vivid participation in
public debate mostly by promoting reason, science and secularism (and
hence objecting to state funding faith-based events or institutes).
Large part of their workload, is organizing ceremonies. They are
person-centred, contrary to the god-centred approach of ceremonies by
organized religions.
American Humanist Association has been formed in 1941, from previous humanist association, along with its journal The Humanist which is the continuation of previous publication The Humanist Bulletin.
A few decades later became a well recognized organization, initiating
progressive campaigns such as abortion rights or against discriminatory
policies, that resulted in becoming the target of religious right by
the 1980s. High-profile members of academia and public figures had published work at The Humanist or joined and lead AHA. Since 1953, AHA established the "Humanist of the Year", to honor individuals that promote science.
Criticism
Criticism of humanism focus on its adherence to Western world values-
such as human rights and humanitarism. By these means, critics claim,
are becoming the tool of western moral and otherwise dominance around
the world that is a form of neo-colonialism leading to oppression and
lack of ethical diversity.
Contemporary critics of humanism from minority or repressed groups
consider humanism as oppressive since it is not free from biases
inherited by white, heterosexual males that shaped this philosophy.
For anthropology professor Talal Asad,
humanism is a project of modernity, a secularized continuation of
western Christian theology. As Catholic church has provided the moral
pass, to love your fellow humans but also enslave them, likewise,
humanism has been a pretext for western countries to expand their
influence, by means of violence, to other parts of the world, in order
to humanize "barbarians".
Asad has also argued that humanism is not a pure secular phenomenon,
but takes from Christianity the idea of the essence of humanity and
along with morals developed during Enlightenment ends up at the
starting point: propagating western hegemony.
Asad is also not optimistic on the ability of humanism to incorporate
other humanistic traditions- such as Asian traditions from India and
China, without incorporating and consuming them. Sociology professor Didier Fassin
see the priority of empathy and compassion instead goodness and justice
as problematic. Fassin also sees the roots of humanism in the Christian
tradition, particularly at the Parable of the Good Samaritan
where empathy is universilied. Fassin goes further and claims that
humanism central essence, sanctity of human life, is a religious victory
veiled in a religious victory hidden in a secular wrapper. History professor Samuel Moyn
specifies his attack on humanism in regards to their advocating for
human rights. For Moyn, Human rights in 1960 were a declaration for
anti-colonial struggles, but during the 1970s, they were transformed in a
utopian vision, replacing the failing utopias of the 20th century. The
humanists underpinning of human rights transforms them into a moral
tool, that is unpractical and ultimately un-political. He also finds a
connection between the catholic discourse on the dignity of human has
found its place within humanist rhetoric.
Antihumanism
Antihumanism, a term that stands for the rejection of humanism, on the ground of that humanism is an pre-scientific ideology.
It was developed during the 19th and 20th century, parallel with the
advancement of humanism, objection to humanism by prominent thinkers
arose, that questioned the metaphysics of humanism, as the human nature
its concept of freedom
Nietzsche, while departing from a humanistic, pro-Enlightenment point,
criticizes humanism for illusions in a number of topics, especially
about the nature of truth. For him, objective truth were merely
anthropomorphic illusions and hence humanism was meaningless.
Furthermore, replacing theism with reason, science and truth is nothing
but replacing one religion with another, Nietzsche argued.
Karl Marx belittled his contemporary precursors of humanism as a
bourgeois project that attempts to present itself as radical- but is
not. After World War II atrocities, questions on human nature and human concept, renewed.
During Cold War, influential Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser,
introduced the term "theoretical antihumanism" to attack both humanism
and socialism currents leaning towards humanism eschewing more
structural or formal interpretation of Marx. For Althusser, early
writings of Marx resonated with humanistic idealism of Hegel, Kant and
Feuerbach but in 1845, according to Althusser, Marx took a radical turn
towards scientific socialism, rejecting concepts such as the essence of
man. Other antihumanists, such as Martin Heidegger and Michel Foucault attacked the notion of human, utilizing psychoanalysis, Marxism and linguistic theory.
Philosopher Kate Soper notes that by faulting humanism for
falling short of its own benevolent ideals, anti-humanism thus
frequently "secretes a humanist rhetoric".
The Shape of Things to Come is a work of science fiction by British writer H. G. Wells, published in 1933, which speculates on future events up to the year 2106.
A long economic slump causes a major war that leaves Europe
devastated and threatened by plague. The nations with the strongest
air-forces set up a benevolent dictatorship that paves the way for world peace
by abolishing national divisions, enforcing the English language,
promoting scientific learning and outlawing religion. The enlightened
world-citizens are able to depose the dictators peacefully, and go on to
breed a new race of super-talents, able to maintain a permanent utopia.
As a frame story,
Wells claims that the book is his edited version of notes written by an
eminent diplomat, Dr Philip Raven, who had been having dream visions of
a history textbook published in 2106 and wrote down what he could
remember of it. It is split into five separate sections or "books":
Today and Tomorrow: The Age of Frustration Dawns – The history of the world, starting with the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 and up to 1933.
The Days After Tomorrow: The Age of Frustration – 1933–1960.
The World Renaissance: The Birth of the Modern State – 1960–1978.
The Modern State Militant – 1978–2059.
The Modern State in Control of Life – 2059 to New Year's Day 2106.
Wells predicted a Second World War breaking out with a European conflagration from the flashpoint of a violent clash between Germans and Poles at Danzig.
Wells set its date as January 1940, quite close to the actual date of
September 1939. Wells's imagined war sharply diverges from the actual
war when Poland proves a military match for Germany, in an inconclusive war that lasts ten years. More countries are eventually dragged into the fighting, but France and the Soviet Union are only marginally involved, the United Kingdom remains neutral and the United States fights inconclusively with Japan. The Austrian Anschluss happens during, rather than before, the war. Czechoslovakia avoids German occupation and its President Edvard Beneš survives to initiate the final "Suspension of Hostilities" in 1950.
Wells's prediction was widely off the mark with regard to Spain, which the book assumed would manage to stay away from the violent passions sweeping the rest of Europe. In real life, the Spanish Civil War
would become the main focus of these passions, two years after the book
was published. Evidently, Wells greatly overestimated the influence of
Spanish Liberals such as Unamuno on Spanish society as a whole.
Wells correctly predicted that the coming war would involve both
sides launching heavy bombings of each other's main cities, and his
detailed depiction of the destroyed Unter Den Linden closely predicted its actual fate in the war. However, Wells wrongly assumed that land fighting would quickly bog down, as in World War I, and that the idea of using tanks to develop a war of movement would come to naught. Wells predicted that submarines would become the launching pads for "air torpedoes" (missiles) carrying weapons of mass destruction,
enabling a country to threaten the destruction of places halfway around
the world although that actually happened decades after World War II.
Wells's predicted war ends with no victor but total exhaustion,
collapse and disintegration of all the fighting states and of the
neutral countries, which are equally affected by the deepening economic
crisis. The whole world descends into chaos: nearly all governments
break down, and a devastating plague in 1956 and 1957 kills a large part of humanity and almost destroys civilization.
Wells then envisages a benevolent dictatorship, "The Dictatorship of the Air",
which arises from the controllers of the world's surviving transport
systems, who are the only people with global power. The dictatorship
promotes science, enforces Basic English as a global lingua franca and eradicates all religions, setting the world on the road to a peaceful utopia.
When the dictatorship chooses to execute a subject, the condemned
person is given a chance to take a poison tablet (modelled on the Hemlock given to Socrates).
The achievement of a classless society is not via a Marxist Dictatorship of the Proletariat, an idea that Wells completely rejected. Rather, the working class is massively "pulled upwards" and completely eliminated in several generations of intensive upward social mobility,
in effect leaving a humanity entirely composed of "middle class
intellectuals". The limited amount of physical labor still needed is
performed by the world's youths, who undergo two years of "labor
conscription" instead of military conscription, which is no longer
needed.
Eventually, after about 100 years of reshaping humanity, the Dictatorship of the Air is overthrown in a completely-bloodless coup, the former rulers are sent into honourable retirement and the world state "withers away".
The last part of the book is a detailed description of the utopian
world that emerges. The ultimate aim of this utopian world is to produce
a world society composed entirely of polymaths, every one of its members being the intellectual equal of the greatest geniuses of the past.
The book displays one of the earliest uses of the abbreviation "C.E.", which Wells explains as "Christian Era" but it is now more usually understood as "Common Era".
Suppression of religion
One
of the major aspects of the creation of the World State is the
abolition of all organised religion, which is deemed indispensable to
give the emerging "Modern State" a monopoly over education and the
complete ability to mould new generations of humanity.
The abolition of Islam is carried out by the Air Police, who "descend upon Mecca
and close down the main holy places", apparently without major
incident. Eventually, Islam disappears, its demise accelerated by the
decay of Arabic
and its replacement by "an expanded English". Some 20 mosques survive,
deemed to be worthy of preservation on architectural grounds.
The Lebanese-American
scholar George Nasser remarked on this aspect of Wells's book: "In the
1979 imagined by HG Wells, a self-appointed ruling elite composed mainly
of Westerners, with one Chinese and one Black African and not a single
Arab member, would establish itself in the Arab and Muslim city of Basra and calmly take the decision to completely extinguish and extirpate the Muslim religion.... In the 1979 of real history, Khomeini's Islamic Republic of Iran came into being".
Wells's speculations, which may well seem absurd from a more modern
point of view, can be much better understood under the impression of the
establishment and modernization of the Turkish State under Atatürk in the 1920s and 1930s.
There is only a brief reference to the abolition of Buddhism and no reference to any serious problem encountered by the Modern State in eradicating it from East Asia.
The most prolonged and formidable religious opposition envisaged by Wells is from the Catholic Church. (There is little reference to Protestants.) The Pope and the entire Catholic hierarchy are gassed unconscious when they bless the new aircraft, built by a revived Fascist Italy. After the Catholic Church is decisively crushed in Italy, it finds refuge in Ireland, "the last bastion of Christianity". When it is subdued there also, the resistance is maintained only in Latin America, under "a coloured Pope in Pernambuco". Finally that too is put down.
Wells gives considerable attention to the fate of the Jews. In this history, an enfeebled Nazi Germany is incapable of systematic murder on the scale of the Holocaust. However, Jews greatly suffer from "unorganized" persecution, and there is a reference to anti-Jewish pogroms happening "everywhere in Europe" during the chaotic 1950s. Then, in a world where all nation-states are a doomed anachronism, Zionism
and its ambition to create a new state come to naught. In the later
struggle between the emerging world state and its opponents, Jews are
seen as caught between the hammer and the anvil. Following the launch of
its antireligious campaign, the Modern State closes down all kosher
butcheries still in operation, while the opening act of the "Federated
Nationalist" rebels opposing the Modern State is to perpetrate a pogrom
against Jews in the Frankfurt
area. Eventually, in Wells's vision, it is the Modern State's forced
assimilation that triumphs and the Jews, who had resisted earlier such
pressures, become completely absorbed in the general society and lose
their separate identity.
Democracy, fascism and communism
In the 1930s, especially after the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazi Germany,
the survival of European democracy seemed in doubt. Wells, not a great
supporter of democracy even in its more robust times, clearly shared
that outlook. The future history book, from the vantage point of 2106,
notes that at the outbreak of war in 1940, France was "still" a Parliamentary Democracy,
the implication clearly being that it was an outmoded form of
government on its way out. The visionary Gustave de Windt, setting out
the blueprint for the coming "Modern State", rejects categorically "The Principle of Opposition", which by definition rules out Parliamentary Democracy.
Wells's posterity remembers fascism more as ridiculous and stupid than as horrible. In the war envisioned in the book, an enfeebled Nazi Germany got bogged down in its war with Poland and never achieved vast conquests or engaged in The Holocaust but finally collapsed and disintegrated (no mention is made of Hitler's ultimate fate, and the historian of 2106 clearly considers it to be unimportant).
Nazism disappears without a trace, and an attempt to revive Italian Fascism
is easily swept away by the triumphant Modern State. The book notes
that many people who were Fascists or Nazis in their early years had
become staunch adherents of the Modern State in the more mature part of
their lives.
That posterity remembers Stalin as having been narrow and limited in his understanding but not as a bloody dictator. The Soviet Union
is less affected than other countries by the worldwide chaos and
disintegration of the late 1940s and the 1950s. With the rise of the
Modern State, Russia experiences a bloodless takeover by the pilots and other skilled technicians, who displace the Communist Party bureaucrats and eagerly assimilate into the new worldwide state. In the transition time, the old Hammer and Sickle is displayed side by side with the Modern State's Winged Disk.
Altogether, of the three competing systems of government
(Democracy, Fascism and Communism) only the last would be remembered by
Wells's Modern State as having been to some degree a predecessor of
itself.
Relation to Brave New World
As noted by Nathaniel Ward The Shape of Things to Come was published two years after Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
The two share the same basic outline of humanity's future: a massive
war leaves the world in ruins, a self-appointed elite takes over,
rebuilds the world and engages in very thorough social engineering
to refashion human society completely. Wells explicitly acknowledges
that relationship in the book itself; when the future history book
discusses the "Dictatorship of the Air" and its leadership, it is noted,
"As Aldous Huxley, one of the most brilliant of the reactionary
writers, foretold of them, they tidied up the world".
The crucial difference is in the kind of future society built up
in the two books. The future society envisioned by Huxley is rigidly
hierarchical, divided into five psychologically-conditioned castes,
ranging from the highly intelligent and assertive Alphas on top to the
subservient and moronic Epsilons at the bottom. As Huxley's cynical
administrator Mustafa Mond asserts, such moronic underclasses are
absolutely essential as society's "gyroscope" - a society composed
entirely of intelligent and assertive "Alphas" would inevitably collapse
in all-out conflict since all members would seek to improve their
position at the expense of the others.
It was that vision that Wells believed would cause Huxley to be remembered by posterity as a "reactionary writer". Much of Shape of Things to Come
is devoted to demonstrating that the century-long dedicated and
intensive work by an elite possessing complete control of world
education can make such a society of intelligent and assertive "Alphas"
harmonious and functional, with no underclasses.
H. G. Wells's The Shape of Things to Come is a Canadian science fiction motion picture first released in May 1979. Although credited to H. G. Wells,
the film takes only its title and some character names from the
original source material. The film's plot has no relationship to the
events of the book. The film was an attempt to capitalise on the
popularity of such recent successes as Star Wars, and TV series such as Space: 1999 and Battlestar Galactica, although the film had only a fraction of the production budget of any of these.
Big Finish Productions released a 2017 audio adaptation loosely based on the novel, adapted by Guy Adams, starring Nicola Walker and Sam Troughton and directed by Lisa Bowerman.
This version presents events as taking part in an alternate timeline
which Raven is shown, rather than the dreams of the original novel.
Influence on later science fiction
Theodore Wein pointed out that "Wells's Things to Come
was at its most influential in the six years between its publication
and the moment when the course of its predicted war was overtaken and
overshadowed by the actual fast-unfolding events of the Second World
War. These same years of the 1930s were the time of incubation for the
people who were destined to become the greatest names in Science
Fiction, the time when they read ravenously any SF on which they could
lay their hands and started to formulate their own ideas. It is not
surprising that traces of Things to Come are clearly visible in
what they wrote in the 1940s and 1950s." Among such great names of
Golden Age Science Fiction, Wein noted Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and Poul Anderson,
and he enumerated in the work of all three – as well of some lesser
known SF writers – some influences which could be traced to "Things to
Come".
Rex Warner's dystopian novel The Aerodrome (1941) is partly a fictional critique of The Shape of Things to Come, with Wells's "Air Police" transformed into the fascistic "Airmen".
Wells depicted the European social scientist Gustave De Windt sitting down at the British Museum Library
and setting out the precise blueprint for a transformation of the world
which he would not live to see. This, in Theodore Wein's opinion, may
have inspired Isaac Asimov's character Hari Seldon.
Wein noted: "Wells' De Windt, conducting his library research in
London, capital of the declining British Empire, realized that the world
was about to fall apart, and set out a detailed blueprint of how to put
it together again. The bulk of Wells's book details how De Windt's
disciples, the Modern State Society, set about implementing De Windt's
vision. Asimov's Seldon conducted his library research in the Imperial
Library of Trantor,
capital of the declining Galactic Empire. He realized that the Galaxy
was about to fall apart, and set out a detailed blueprint of how to put
it together again. The bulk of Asimov's Foundation Series details how
Seldon's disciples, the First Foundation and the Second one, set about
implementing Seldon's vision.".
Wein also points to Wells's "Encyclopaedic organization which
centres upon Barcelona, with its seventeen million active workers" which
is tasked with creating "the Fundamental Knowledge System which
accumulates, sorts, keeps in order and renders available everything that
is known" as a possible inspiration for Asimov's Encyclopedia Galactica,
whose compilation was the original task of the First Foundation and
quotes from which are sprinkled throughout the Foundation Series.
The British Wells had the planes of the emerging World State overfly Washington, D.C. and undermine the authority of the President of the United States. A decade later, the American Robert Heinlein wrote "Solution Unsatisfactory" in which planes of the International Patrol do the same. Later, Heinlein upgraded the International Patrol into an Interplanetary Patrol,
a self-appointed elite of highly motivated and rather puritanical
spacemen reminiscent of those enforcing Wells's "Dictatorship of the
Air".
Wells depicted "Federated Nationalists" who had banded together
only so that they could fly at each other's throats once they had
smashed the budding world government. Poul Anderson in his early future history, The Psychotechnic League, depicted precisely the same kind of Nationalists violently opposing the United Nations' efforts to make itself a true world government and rebuild the war-torn world.
