## Definition **Humanism**, as developed by Steven Pinker in *Enlightenment Now* (2018), is the moral and political philosophy that identifies the maximisation of individual human (and sentient) flourishing as the supreme goal of ethics and governance. Pinker defines it directly: > "The goal of maximising the prosperity and flourishing of human beings — life, health, happiness, freedom, knowledge, love, richness of experience — can be called 'humanism'." Humanism in this sense is secular: it grounds morality in the interests of actual sentient individuals rather than in divine commands, tribal honour, or national destiny. It is the third of Pinker's four Enlightenment ideals, and it supplies the *purpose* that Reason and Science serve. ## Philosophical Foundations The Enlightenment thinkers recognised the need for a secular basis for morality. Their key insight was that **individuals — not groups — are the beings who actually suffer and flourish**. Tribes, nations, and religions do not experience pain; persons do. This shifts the moral weight from collective abstractions to individual lives. Humanism is also philosophically connected to impartiality. Reason, applied to ethics, produces the recognition that there is nothing objectively special about oneself that would justify different moral treatment. Pinker traces this impartiality principle across traditions: Spinoza's "view from eternity," Hobbes's social contract, Kant's categorical imperative, Rawls's veil of ignorance, the Golden Rule. All converge on the same structural point: the interests of others must be weighed as one would weigh one's own. ## Humanism and Moral Expansion A distinctive feature of humanist ethics is the **expanding circle of moral concern**. Because reason keeps pressing the question "why should *these* beings count less?", the scope of moral consideration tends to grow over time — from family to tribe, to nation, to all humans, potentially to all sentient animals. This expansion is one of Pinker's key empirical claims about moral progress: attitudes toward slavery, torture, women's rights, and LGBTQ+ rights have all shifted in a direction consistent with the humanist logic of impartiality. ## Utilitarianism and Its Limits Pinker characterises humanism as "essentially utilitarian" — an act is better the more happiness it produces for the most people. He acknowledges the philosophical tension with deontological approaches (rules that must not be transgressed regardless of consequences) but argues that historically, utilitarian thinkers have driven the most important moral advances: the abolition of slavery, the extension of rights to women and minorities, the prohibition of torture. For Pinker, the philosophical justification need not be elaborate. The humanist principle — "it is good for people to live long, healthy, happy, rich, and stimulating lives" — is transparent, universal, and requires no metaphysical commitment beyond our common humanity. ## Humanism vs. Its Two Rivals Pinker contrasts humanist ethics with two "perennially seductive alternatives": 1. **Theistic morality**: morality as obedience to a divine command, enforced by supernatural reward and punishment. Pinker argues this is not only epistemically unsupported but can be morally dangerous — invisible gods can and have commanded the killing of heretics and apostates. 2. **Romantic heroism**: the view that morality consists in the purity, authenticity, or greatness of an individual or a nation — associated primarily with Nietzsche. Pinker traces this lineage through fascism, authoritarian populism, and the postmodern cult of transgression. It is the most direct intellectual opponent of humanism. See [[Critiques of the Enlightenment (Pinker)]]. ## Humanism and Human Nature Pinker draws on evolutionary biology to explain both why humanism is possible and why it is difficult. Human nature includes genuine prosocial emotions — compassion, gratitude, trust, guilt — that evolution installed because cooperation benefited survival. These emotions are the natural seed of humanism; reason and culture can cultivate them into a broader concern for all sentient beings. But the same evolution also installed tribalism, in-group favouritism, and deference to authority — tendencies that humanism must continually work against through institutions. ## Related - [[The Four Enlightenment Ideals (Pinker)]] - [[Progress as Empirically Measurable (Pinker)]] - [[Critiques of the Enlightenment (Pinker)]] - [[The Second Law as Backdrop to Human Progress]] ## Sources - [[Enlightenment Now (Pinker 2018)]]