Tag Archives: the little book of humanism

Blurb

We all want to lead a happy life. Traditionally, when in need of guidance, comfort or inspiration, many people turn to religion. But there has been another way to learn how to live well – the humanist way – and in today’s more secular world, it is more relevant than ever.

In The Little Book of Humanism, Alice Roberts and Andrew Copson share over two thousand years of humanist wisdom through an uplifting collection of stories, quotes and meditations on how to live an ethical and fulfilling life, grounded in reason and humanity.

With universal insights and beautiful original illustrations, The Little Book of Humanism is a perfect introduction to and a timeless anthology of humanist thought from some of history and today’s greatest thinkers.

We all want to lead a happy life. Traditionally, when in need of guidance, comfort or inspiration, many people turn to religion. But there has been another way to learn how to live well – the humanist way – and in today’s more secular world, it is more relevant than ever.

In The Little Book of Humanism, Alice Roberts and Andrew Copson share over two thousand years of humanist wisdom through an uplifting collection of stories, quotes and meditations on how to live an ethical and fulfilling life, grounded in reason and humanity.

With universal insights and beautiful original illustrations, The Little Book of Humanism is a perfect introduction to and a timeless anthology of humanist thought from some of history and today’s greatest thinkers.

My Review

I bought myself this book and a couple of Alice Roberts’ books for my birthday, with my birthday voucher from my friend Fi. I have been a subscriber to The New Humanist magazine for a couple of years, but I don’t really understand the philosophical underpinnings of Humanism, and I wanted to understand a bit more.

I found this book very touching. It’s concise and illustrated with examples that demonstrate the points made. It covers life and death, which I found very comforting, given the sudden loss of my uncle three weeks ago. There were quotes that I felt would be appropriate for a funeral reading. I found in reading this book that my personal ethics and philosophy already fell in to the Humanist category. If you need a god to tell you how to behave ethically, you have a problem.

I would describe myself as a Humanist Heathen – that is I combine humanism with heathenry, which may seem contradictory considering Humanists don’t accept the existence of gods and heathenry has lots of gods. I tend to think the gods and their stories are not literally real but are explanations for events that worked for people two and a half thousand to fourteen hundred years ago and they can still be useful ways of experiencing the world. For example, I don’t need Nehalennia to bless any sea crossings I make or any international trade I might do (haha – like that’s ever going to happen) but I still find it comforting and a focus of attention. I don’t need to believe literally in Sunna to be overwhelmed with awe in a beautiful sunrise, either. It’s a bit weird, I know, but it works for me.

This book is a little book that fits in a pocket, and it obviously isn’t a comprehensive discussion of Humanism, its history and philosophy, but if you want to dip in and get the basics it is a good start.