Living Humanism: Part 2

Philip Nathan

Description

Having presented core and other principles underpinning our conduct and actions in Living Humanism Part 1, and having discussed these principles and their application in a range of key areas and contexts, part two of Living Humanism takes the discussion and application of core and other principles into the realms of further areas, situations and circumstances relevant to our daily lives, and tackles additional questions and issues central to our personal conduct and action.Chapters in part two of the guide focus specifically on our conduct and actions in support of, and in relation to, our freedom, individuality and autonomy; education and learning; and our need to support peace and cooperation, as well as avoiding violence.Living Humanism Part 2 also looks at our personal action as regards supporting our health and well-being, and examines our relationship with our non-human world as well as the actions we need to take in relation to our non-human world in order to support our own well-being and the well-being of others.The final chapter of Living Humanism Part 2, brings together the ideas discussed through parts one and two of the guide, summarising and consolidating the range of principles, the elements of personal conduct, and the forms of action we need to take, over the range of areas discussed, in order for us to support well-being for both ourselves and others.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 10 juin 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781838596248
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Living Humanism: Part Two
Having presented core and other principles underpinning our conduct and actions in part one of Living Humanism, and having discussed these principles and their application in several key contexts, part two of Living Humanism takes the discussion and application of core and other principles into further areas of our lives, focusing specifically on our conduct and actions in support of, and in relation to, our freedom, individuality and autonomy; education and learning; our need to support peace and cooperation, as well as avoiding violence; our personal action in relation to supporting our health and well-being, as well as examining our relationship with our non-human world and the actions we need to take in regard to that non-human world in order to support our own well-being and the well-being of others.
The final chapter of this second part of the guide, brings together the ideas discussed through parts one and two, summarising and consolidating the range of principles, the elements of personal conduct, and the forms of action we need to take, over the range of areas discussed, in order for us to support well-being, and in support of our efforts to reduce and prevent pain and suffering, for both ourselves and others.



Copyright © 2018 Philip Nathan

The moral right of the author has been asserted.


Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.


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ISBN 978 1838596 248

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Contents
Ten
Individuality, Autonomy, Independence, Freedom and the Social

Eleven
Upbringing, Education, Learning and Personal Development

Twelve
Pursuing Peace and Cooperation, and Avoiding Violence

Thirteen
Supporting Health, Wellness and Well-being

Fourteen
Personal Conduct and the Non-Human World

Fifteen
Bringing it All Together – Humanist Personal Conduct, Well-being, Fulfillment and Happiness

Coda

Acknowledgements

Appendix : The Principles

Notes
Ten
Individuality, Autonomy, Independence, Freedom and the Social
While we are social beings, significantly dependent on others for the enjoyment of lives of well-being, fulfillment and happiness, living through others, supporting and receiving support from others, gaining an important sense of identity through our families and our affiliations and memberships of other groups, and gaining many of the joys and pleasures of life through our relationships with others, it is also the case that in order to support our personal well-being and happiness and the well-being and happiness of others, as required by the core principles set out in this guide, we need to have a strong sense of our own individual selves, our personal identity and individuality, a sense of our separateness, our individual identity aside from others, as well as a sense of our own uniqueness, our own special characteristics and special identity. Similarly our pursuit and achievement of well-being and happiness require us to have a strong sense of our own personal autonomy and independence, a strong sense and belief in our own ability to think, judge, evaluate and indeed take actions autonomously and independently, our actions being capable of being taken, and being taken, in a manner which is not determined, or inappropriately constrained by the thoughts, desires, wants and actions of others. Of course, our pursuit of well-being and happiness also requires our possession, in practice, of the capacities and abilities to determine our thoughts, beliefs and actions.
Possessing these senses, feelings, these various individual characteristics and features, in itself represents an element supportive of our personal well-being, yet also, through having such a strong sense of personal autonomy, a strong sense of our uniqueness and individuality, of personal identity and independence, through our ha
ving such abilities and capabilities in terms of independent thought and action, we are better able to contribute not only to our own personal well-being but we are also better able to contribute to the social, to others, to our communities and societies.
Closely tied to these more individually focused characteristics, we need the capacity, ability and self-confidence to assert and be comfortable with our differences from others and to express our difference where we desire to do this. Furthermore, while our difference from others and our individual character and uniqueness is to some degree inevitable given the multitude and complexity of influences on each of us, we will still likely, to some degree, wish and need to act to differentiate ourselves from others (though not always through explicit, conscious decisions and actions), in order to achieve such different states of being, such differential individuality, since our individuality, difference and unique identities are necessary for our well-being and indeed the well-being of others, our communities, societies and beyond, which benefit from our human diversity.
Through such capacities, abilities and self-confidence, as individuals, we will also be free to conform with the desires, expectations, conventions and norms of others, our communities and societies if we so wish and choose to so do, but we will furthermore, also be free from the need to conform inappropriately and sometimes painfully to those desires and expectations, those norms and conventions of others, our communities and societies.
Crucially, in support of our well-being, fulfillment and happiness, we need a strong sense of being free, being free to think and act, being free from unwarranted and unnecessary pressure and constraints, free from personally damaging pressure and constraints on our thoughts and actions, pressures and constraints which may be put in place by others, or may even be self-imposed. We need to be free from damaging constriction, constraint and oppression. And we need to take action to support such a sense of being free, and indeed to support the reality of being free, for ourselves as individuals and for all others.
Our desire for and wish for our personal and individual freedom, independence and autonomy does not dissolve the reality that we are social beings, who need others, who are dependent to an important degree on others, who largely realise our lives through others. Alongside our individuality, our awareness, knowledge and sense of our separate individuality, our separate individual identity, our sense of separateness and our sense of autonomy, we are also fundamentally and integrally part of the whole. We are social – all of us; it is part of our human identity, part of our humanity, whatever our sense of independence and separation, that we live with, engage with and interact with others in the world. We live day-to-day, month-to-month, year-to-year in our families, in our workplaces, in our more local communities and societies, as part of our global humanity.
Our need, want and possession of those characteristics relating to our personal independence, personal and individual identity, our separateness, our freedom, in themselves enhance our well-being and happiness and mean that we can be, in a sense, ‘properly social’, meaning that we are diverse as a group of individuals, which strengthens the group, and as individuals, we are strong and independent thinkers and actors who through our independence, freedom and autonomy can contribute effectively to others as individuals, and to our groups, and such that we can contribute optimally to both ourselves and all others.
Our actual degree of, and sense of, personal and individual freedom, independence and autonomy, from an individual perspective will be comprised of our varying degrees and levels of physical, emotional and psychological independence and autonomy but also will be influenced in practice by the level of resources we have available (which can mean money), the education, skills and expertise we have and the demand that exists for such skills and abilities. Yet of course our sense of freedom, independence and autonomy will also be influenced substantially by the nature of the community and social context in which we are embedded.
Also relating to our sense of freedom and independence, our personal well-being and happiness is supported by our opportunity, ability and capacity to make our own independent choices, our own decisions about the things we do in our lives, our own capacity to determine our thoughts, beliefs and actions in our own lives and, in the world beyond our immediate situations and circumstances, make our own decisions about for example, where we want to go, where we want to be and indeed who we want to be with. This capacity for individual choice again does not mean we are isolated and non-social human beings, but nevertheless places us with some level of influence and control as an individual over some, if not many of the individual and social happenin