Document Type
Contribution to Book
Source Publication
The Oxford Handbook of Humanism
Link to Published Version
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190921538.013.11
Publication Date
7-2020
Editor
Anthony Pinn
Publisher
Oxford University Press
City
New York
Volume
Online Publication Date: Jul 2020
ISBN
9780190921545
First Page
1
Last Page
39
Department
Religious Studies
Description
This chapter provides an overview of select trends, ideas, themes, and figures associated with humanism in the Americas, which comprises a diversified set of peoples, cultural traditions, religious orientations, and socio-economic groups. In acknowledging this rich tapestry of human life, the chapter emphasizes the impressive variety of developments in philosophy, the natural sciences, literature, religion, art, social science, and political thought that have contributed to the development of humanism in the Americas. The chapter also features modern usages of humanism that originated in the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century. In this context, humanism is best viewed as a contested site in which its meanings, usages, and rhetorical power reflect a wide range of ideological allegiances that include positive and negative connotations. The complex, layered processes of colonization that are a part of the history of the Americas will also inflect the varied usages and connotations of humanism.
Recommended Citation
White, Carol W., "Humanism in the Americas" (2020). Faculty Contributions to Books. 211.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_books/211
Included in
Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Latin American History Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons