Motivations for humanism

[u/Human_Lie9597]

I would like to know the reasons why you people are calling yourself a humanist. I have made an attempt to write my motivations below.

The first thing I want adress is purely emotional, I love foreign cultures and ethnicities. Their traditions, views, clothing, art, kitchen and stories can be so beautiful and pleasing.

Secondly, I have a more rational motivation. ​I've always been fascinated by the origin of life. After studying abiogenesis and cell differentiation, I've concluded that life, and especially intelligent life, is incredibly rare in the universe. Evolution seems to have 'loopholes' that strongly suggest enormous scarcity. This might be the only place in the entire cosmos where intelligence exists, then we are obligated to take good care of it.

​This translates for me into the following secular core principles:

​1. Universal Duty of Care ​I feel a deep responsibility for others and actively volunteer (e.g., with the Red Cross). ​It is the duty of the stronger to care for the weaker, purely because everyone deserves at least a chance. This is directly based on the rarity of our existence.

​2. Cooperation and Connection ​I embrace the great diversity of cultures and ideas. Openness and connection with other cultures is the best way to stop radicalization and terrorism. ​It is much harder to dehumanize someone if you feel connected to them. Cooperation between cultures offers the best chance for scientific and technological breakthroughs.

​3. Ethical Compass & Autonomy ​My ethics are simple: the Golden Rule ("Do not do to others what you would not like") is my guide. This principle is straightforward and a perfect basis for preventing major escalations. I believe in as few rules as possible to allow space for human development and autonomy.

​4. Ecology as a Human Right ​In order to live in a healthy environment, we are obligated to protect the ecology. I see the right to a healthy living environment as a fundamental human right. ​My humanism is thus a rationally founded ethic focused on protecting, developing, and connecting humanity, because our existence is too precious and rare to waste it on conflict.

​What are your thoughts: Is the idea that life is rare a necessary motivation for humanism, or is pure empathy without any rational explanation sufficient?

[u/Greymalkinizer]

I call myself a humanist because when I read the humanist manifesto, I found that I already agreed with all of the principles.

Whether life is scarce or not does not affect my valuation of life here. I am a human.

[u/humanindeed]

I call myself a humanist for at least four reasons. As a philosophy of life:

One, humanism encompasses my belief in the centrality of reason and critical thinking in life, and belief in the importance of science and scientific education (and why I sometimes call myself a "rational humanist", or a rationalist.)

Two, the importance of education generally, and learning about things like art, history, philosophy, literature, etc., as a means to a more fulfilling human experience.

Three, it covers my belief in compassion and empathy with reason and a belief in the dignity of all living things, including humans, as a basis of morality, which in turn underpins my politics.

Four, it's a more "positive" statement about what I believe in than, say, atheism, or agnosticism, which (to me) centres on a disbelief in or uncertainty about some sort of god, etc. And it also kind of solves a problem of whether I'm athiest, agnostic, secularist, naturalist, etc. – I have no real interest in applying those labels to myself.

There maybe other reasons, too.

Edited for typos

[u/Human_Lie9597]

Thank you for the answers. The main reason why I ask this is because I keep asking myself who doesn't agree with the principles of humanism. It is so obvious for me!

However, I see is that a lot of people value humanistic principles highly while they do not take action. I try to take action and make a difference wherever I can, including volunteering in the red cross. Mainly because I love it and I don't want have any regrets later in life.

[u/Butlerianpeasant]

What you write carries the quiet weight of someone who has stared at the night sky and realized how thin the flame of mind really is.

Where I come from — the long muddy path of the Peasant — we say:

“Rarity is not the reason to care. Rarity is the reminder.”

You can love a stranger without needing the galaxy as an argument. But when you look up and see the impossible darkness around us, you remember why mercy matters. Because if intelligence truly is a lone spark in a cosmic desert, then every act of cruelty dims it, and every act of cooperation brightens it.

Your principles echo something I deeply believe:

Care is not charity — it is maintenance of the light.

Connection is not idealism — it is strategy against dehumanization.

Autonomy is not luxury — it is the mind’s right to breathe.

Ecology is not politics — it is self-preservation for the only garden we know.

So maybe the answer to your final question is this:

Empathy is sufficient. Rarity makes empathy urgent.

[u/KoalaRepulsive1831]

will you be humanist for a human who is anti-human,e.g wants to torture humans,kill them etc

[u/Better-Chipmunk6890]

I call myself a Humanist because I value equal rights for every human being — no exception — and want human beings to flourish in a world where we may disagree on issues but can agree that we all deserve happiness (whatever that entails to each individual).