Is happiness the most important good?
Some prefer not to talk of ‘meaning’ at all, either ‘of life’ or ‘in life’, but talk about how we should live and what matters in life. They instead ask …
Course: Introducing Humanism: Non-religious Approaches to Life, with Sandi Toksvig
Are we insignificant?
AC Grayling explains why, even in a vast and purposeless universe, human beings might still matter.
A sense of scale
As human beings we have the capacity to step outside of ourselves and view things from a more detached perspective. When we do, we can see how many of the …
What is the meaning of life?
The question ‘What is the meaning of life?’ appears to imply there is some answer out there that can be discovered. However, the fact that we can ask a question …
How can I be happy?
Watch the video for an introduction to a humanist approach to making meaning in our lives. Share your initial thoughts in the comments box below.
Humanist funerals
Head of Ceremonies at Humanists UK Isabel Russo describes the purpose and focus of a humanist funeral. Download the example statements from humanist funerals below. Consider how they reflect a …
What survives?
Even though death is the end of our individual existence, something of us can survive our death. The impact we have on the world and other people while we are …
Mortality and the need to embrace life
Positive consequences ‘Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him…’ EM Forster, Howards End Thinking about our death, and what it deprives us of, can have consequences …
The end of life
Humanist pastoral support trainer and practitioner Carrie Thomas describes the way some humanists approach the end of their lives.
Should we be afraid of death?
Below is an article by the humanist philosopher Peter Cave on the question of whether or not we should be afraid of death: ‘When death is there, we are not; …
What should we think about death?
In Week 1 we explored the reasons humanists might rationally conclude that this life is the only life we have. To begin our exploration of a humanist approach to questions …
Summary of Week 2
Well done! You’ve completed Week 2. Let’s summarise what we have learned this week: Our beliefs can be mistaken; we should therefore be prepared to adopt a sceptical approach to …
Uncertainty
Humanists will recognise that science does not give us certainty. The truths of science are provisional. Further evidence can and often does change our understanding of the world. Nor can …
Atheism and agnositicism
We have already learned last week that a humanist understanding of human beings is that we, like every living thing, evolved. Humanists take the scientific evidence seriously. The absence of …
The limits of science: humanist responses
We have already learned how many of the questions that were once considered within the remit of religion are now considered scientific questions (eg questions that asked for explanations of …
These articles are from the online course:
Introducing Humanism: Non-religious Approaches to Life, with Sandi Toksvig