SECULAR HUMANISM
PHILIP KITCHER
DEWEY AND JAMES REVISITED
• JAMES’ CENTRAL PROBLEM: RECONCILING
SCIENCE AND RELIGION
• FOR DEWEY THIS IS ONE PROBLEM.
• ONE TASK ARISING WITHIN THE PROJECT
OF DEVELOPING A LIBERAL, DEMOCRATIC
WORLD-VIEW
A SHARED ASSUMPTION
• BOTH JAMES AND DEWEY TAKE THE
PROBLEM TO ARISE BECAUSE BELIEF IN
TRANSCENDENT (SUPERNATURAL) BEINGS
HAS BECOME IMPOSSIBLE.
• THAT IS NOT OUR PREDICAMENT.
• RELIGIONS JAMES AND DEWEY THOUGHT
DISCREDITED FLOURISH TODAY.
THE ARGUMENT FROM SYMMETRY
• BELIEF IN THE EXISTENCE OF
TRANSCENDENT BEINGS RESTS ON THE
SAME GROUNDS IN ALL CASES.
• THOSE GROUNDS ESSENTIALLY INVOLVE
TRANSMISSION FROM EPISODES OF
REVELATION IN THE DISTANT PAST.
• BUT THE CHARACTER OF THE BEINGS
REVEALED IS RADICALLY DIFFERENT IN
DIFFERENT CASES.
FURTHER …
• THE PROCESSES THROUGH WHICH
RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES EVOLVE ARE NOT
CONDUCIVE TO THE DELIVERY OF TRUTH.
• THE PROCESSES THROUGH WHICH PEOPLE
COME TO BELIEVE ARE NOT CONDUCIVE TO
THE DELIVERY OF TRUTH.
• RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES ARE FRAMED IN
THE CATEGORIES MADE AVAILABLE BY
RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS.
“AGNOSTO-ATHEISM”
• ALL THE VIEWS OF THE TRANSCENDENT
PROPOSED IN THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS
ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY FALSE.
• APPLICATION OF ANY CONCEPT – EVEN
PERSON, OR MIND, OR CREATOR – IS
UNWARRANTED.
• WE CANNOT TELL IF FUTURE DISCOVERIES
WILL RECOGNIZE SOMETHING PLAUSIBLY
VIEWED AS “TRANSCENDENT”.
THE VARIETIES OF RELIGION
• NOT ALL RELIGIONS INVOKE
TRANSCENDENT ENTITIES.
• NOT ALL RELIGIONS INVOKE “THE
TRANSCENDENT”.
• BUT TYPES OF LITERALISM ARE COMMON.
EXTREME LITERALISM
• THE CREATION STORY IS LITERALLY TRUE.
• HENCE ALL THE MAJOR TYPES OF PLANTS
AND ANIMALS CAME INTO BEING AT THE
SAME TIME.
• HENCE THE VIEWS OF COSMOLOGISTS,
GEOLOGISTS AND EVOLUTIONARY
BIOLOGISTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE
UNIVERSE ARE ALL WRONG.
LESS EXTREME LITERALISM
• “JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD” IS
LITERALLY TRUE.
• THAT IS:
THERE WAS A TIME AT WHICH THE BEING
WE KNOW AS JESUS WAS LITERALLY DEAD,
AND A LATER TIME AT WHICH HE WAS
FULLY ALIVE.
NON-LITERALISM
• “JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD” IS NOT
LITERALLY TRUE; THE SENTENCE
EXPRESSES AN IMPORTANT TRUTH ABOUT
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DEEDS AND
CHARACTER OF JESUS FOR HUMAN LIFE.
• DEFINITE INTERPRETATION
• INDEFINITE INSPIRATION
FAITH
• DOCTRINAL – BELIEF IN THE TRUTH OF
DOCTRINAL STATEMENTS. (BEYOND THE
EVIDENCE???)
• ORIENTATIONAL – COMMITMENT TO
VALUES EXPRESSED (NON-LITERALLY) IN
RELIGIOUS TEXTS. DOCTRINES PLAY A
ROLE IN REINFORCING THESE VALUES AND
IN INSPIRING CONDUCT.
DEWEY’S “COMMON FAITH”
• ABANDONS THE TRANSCENDENT.
• ABANDONS LITERALISM.
• COMMITTED TO RELIGIONS AS
ORIENTATIONS TOWARDS WHAT IS
VALUABLE.
• RECOGNIZES THE NEED FOR WAYS OF
SUSTAINING AND PROMOTING THESE
ORIENTATIONS AND VALUES.
A NATURAL REACTION
• WHAT DEWEY PRESERVES IS TOO THIN TO
DISCHARGE THE PURPOSES RELIGION HAS
TRADITIONALLY SERVED.
• THIS IS “RELIGION” ONLY FOR A
COMFORTABLE ELITE.
• IT CANNOT HOPE TO MAKE HEADWAY IN A
WORLD THAT HAS RETURNED TO
LITERALISM.
YET …
• ONE OF THE MOST OBVIOUS FACTS ABOUT
RELIGIONS COMMITTED TO THE
TRANSCENDENT IS THEIR DIVISIVENESS.
• SO IT IS WORTH EXPLORING WHETHER
DEWEY’S HOPE CAN BE FULFILLED.
• OPENLY – BY GIVING UP DEWEY’S
PRESERVATION OF RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
IN FAVOR OF FORTHRIGHT SECULAR
HUMANISM.
CONTEMPORARY ATHEISM
• SECULAR HUMANISM IS NOT MILITANT
MODERN ATHEISM.
• IT RECOGNIZES (AS DEWEY DID) THE
ENDURING CONTRIBUTIONS OF RELIGIONS
TO HUMAN LIFE.
I SHOULD LIKE TO TURN THE
STATEMENT AROUND AND
SAY THAT WHEREVER THIS
CHANGE TAKES PLACE
THERE IS A DEFINITELY
RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE. IT IS
NOT A RELIGION THAT
BRINGS IT ABOUT, BUT,
WHENEVER IT OCCURS,
FROM WHATEVER CAUSE
AND BY WHATEVER MEANS,
THERE IS A RELIGIOUS
OUTLOOK AND FUNCTION.
WHY RELIGION?
• SOCIAL ROLES IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE
ETHICAL PROJECT.
• FROM COOPERATION TO SUSTAINING
REFLECTIONS ON HUMAN LIFE (THE
“LARGE QUESTIONS”)
• INSTITUTIONALIZED IN SOCIETIES FOR
THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
RESIDUAL NEEDS
• DEWEY WAS RIGHT TO SEE THAT THE
FUNCTIONS STILL NEED TO BE FULFILLED.
• SECULAR HUMANISM APPROACHES THEM
MORE OPENLY.
• DISCHARGING THEM IS CRUCIAL TO
REACHING THE SITUATION FROM WHICH
DEWEY THOUGHT HE COULD BEGIN.
FUNCTIONS
• COMMUNITY
• MEANING
• DEATH
• THE DARKNESS OF THE HUMAN
CONDITION
THE PROBLEM OF THE PUBLIC (AGAIN)
• IN COMPLEX DEMOCRACIES (AND IN
OTHER SOCIETIES, TOO) THERE ARE NO
GOOD SURROGATES FOR RELIGIOUS
INSTITUTIONS.
1. SERIOUS DISCUSSION
2. JOINT PROJECTS
•
IMITATIONS ARE TYPICALLY FEEBLE.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
• THE PROBLEM IS AMELIORATED IN THE
SOCIETIES WHERE THERE IS MORE SOCIAL
JUSTICE.
• THIS IS EXPECTED, GIVEN THE
CORRELATION BETWEEN RELIGIOSITY AND
VULNERABILITY.
MEANING
• THERE IS NO GENERAL PROBLEM OF
RESTORING MEANINGFULNESS IN A
SECULAR FRAMEWORK.
• THERE ARE PARTICULAR PROBLEMS IN
PROVIDING PEOPLE WITH OPPORTUNITIES
FOR MEANINGFUL LIVES.
• THESE ARISE FROM LACK OF
OPPORTUNITIES AND LACK OF
COMMUNITY.
DEATH
• WHAT IS THE LURE OF IMMORTALITY?
• CAN WE ENVISAGE LIFE WITHOUT
PROJECTS AND ACTIVE STRIVING?
• RATIONAL FEARS
 PREMATURE CESSATION
 THE LOSS OF OTHERS.
DILUTED LIBERALISM
• THIS IS A SATISFACTORY PICTURE FOR
COMFORTABLY INTELLECTUALS.
• IT IGNORES THE DARK SIDE OF HUMAN
NATURE.
• BUT THERE ARE KARAMAZOVS.
CONCLUSIONS
• THE SERIOUS CHARGES DON’T SHOW THAT
A SATISFACTORY SECULAR HUMANISM IS
IMPOSSIBLE.
• THEY MIGHT BE ADDRESSED BY A SERIES
OF EXPERIMENTS (DEWEY WOULD
APPROVE).
• BUT WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT IT
TAKES TIME FOR EXPERIMENTS TO WORK.