Humanism and America : $b Essays on the outlook of modern civilisation
Philosophy
Humanism and America : $b Essays on the outlook of modern civilisation
Humanism; Literature -- Philosophy; Philosophy, Modern; United States -- Civilization -- 20th century
Humanism, even humanism of the distinctly individualistic type I have
been outlining, may, as I have already suggested, work in harmony
with traditional religion. In that case there must be a careful
determination of boundaries. Though humanism and religion both lie
on the same ascending path from the naturalistic flux, one must
insist that each has its separate domain. It is an error to hold that
humanism can take the place of religion. Religion indeed may more
readily dispense with humanism than humanism with religion. Humanism
gains greatly by having a religious background in the sense I have
indicated; whereas religion, for the man who has actually renounced
the world, may very conceivably be all in all. On the other hand, the
man who sets out to live religiously in the secular order without
having recourse to the wisdom of the humanist is likely to fall into
vicious confusions--notably, into a confusion between the things of God
and the things of Cæsar. The Catholic Church has therefore been well
inspired in rounding out its religious doctrine with the teaching of
Aristotle and other masters of the law of measure. It can scarcely fail
to recognise that the position of the positive and critical humanist
is sound _as far as it goes_. It follows that the Catholic and the
non-Catholic should be able to co-operate on the humanistic level.
A like co-operation should be possible between the humanist and the
members of other Christian communions who have not as yet succumbed
entirely to humanitarianism.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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