THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMANISM

THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMANISM

Books by Corliss Lamont

The Philosophy of Humanism, Eighth Edition, 1997 (posthumous) Lover's Credo: Poems of Love, 1994 The Illusion of Immortality, Fifth Edition, 1990 Freedom of Choice Affirmed, Third Edition, 1990 Freedom Is as Freedom Does: Civil Liberties in America, Fourth Edition, 1990 Yes To Life: Memoirs of Corliss Lamont, 1990 Remembering John Masefield, 1990 A Lifetime of Dissent, 1988 A Humanist Funeral Service, 1977 Voice in the Wilderness: Collected Essays of Fifty Years, 1974 A Humanist Wedding Service, 1970 Soviet Civilization, Second Edition, 1955 The Independent Mind, 1951 The Peoples of the Soviet Union, 1946 You Might Like Socialism, 1939 Russia Day by Day Co-author (with Margaret I. Lamont), 1933

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THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMANISM

CORLISS LAMONT

EIGHTH EDITION, REVISED

HALF-MOON FOUNDATION, INC.

The Half-Moon Foundation was formed to promote enduring international peace, support for the United Nations, the conservation of our country's natural environment, and to safeguard and extend civil liberties as guaranteed under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

AMHERST, NEW YORK 14226

To My Mother

FLORENCE CORLISS LAMONT

discerning companion in philosophy

Published 1997 by

Humanist Press A division of the American Humanist Association

7 Harwood Drive, P.O. Box 1188 Amherst, NY 14226-7188

Eighth Edition

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-77244 ISBN 0-931779-07-3

Copyright ? 1949, 1957, 1965, 1982, 1990, 1992 by Corliss Lamont. Copyright ? 1997 by Half-Moon Foundation, Inc.

Copy Editor, Rick Szykowny ~ Page Layout, F. J. O'Neill

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CONTENTS

Introduction to the Eighth Edition

Foreword to the Eighth Edition

Preface to the Seventh Edition

Introduction to the Sixth Edition

Foreword to the Fifth Edition

Preface to the Fifth Edition

I. The Meaning of Humanism 1. The Importance of Philosophy 2. Humanism Defined 3. Different Kinds of Humanists

II. The Humanist Tradition 1. Philosophic Forerunners 2. Religious Roots of Humanism 3. The Cultural Background

III. This Life Is All and Enough 1. The Unity of Body and Personality 2. Some Other Considerations 3. The Destiny of Humankind

IV. Humanism's Theory of the Universe 1. Science and Its Implications 2. The Rejection of Dualism and Idealism 3. The Universe of Nature 4. Contingency, Determinism, and Freedom 5. The Ultimates of Existence 6. The Appreciation of Nature

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