List of secular humanists

This is a partial list of notable secular humanists.

A

[edit]
Asimov
Atiyah
Bohr
Chomsky
Dewey
Dirac
Einstein
Feynman
Gell-Mann
Glashow
Grayling
Julian Huxley
Nye
Oppenheimer
Pauling
Randi
Randolph
Rotblat
Rushdie
Russell
Sagan
Said
Sakharov
Schulz
Singer
Skinner
Szilárd
Tesla
Twain
Vidal
Walker
Zappa
Zinn

B

[edit]

C

[edit]

D

[edit]

E

[edit]

F

[edit]

G

[edit]

H

[edit]

J

[edit]
  • Albert Jacquard: French geneticist and essayist.
  • Penn Jillette: American illusionist, comedian, musician, and best-selling author known for his work with fellow magician Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, scientific skepticism, libertarianism and free market capitalism.
  • Jerry Coyne: American evolutionary biologist and author.

K

[edit]

L

[edit]

Mann, Nicholas. The Origins Of Humanism. In Renaissance Humanism, 1-20. Jill Kraye, 11th ed. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

M

[edit]

N

[edit]

O

[edit]

P

[edit]
  • Elliot Page: Canadian actor.[66]
  • Linus Pauling: American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator; named Humanist of the Year in 1961 by the American Humanist Association.[18]
  • Neil Peart: Canadian musician and author. He was the drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush; has received numerous awards for his musical performances, and was known for his technical proficiency and stamina.
  • Jean-Claude Pecker: French astronomer, astrophysicist, author, member of the French Academy of Sciences, director of the Nice Observatory, president of the Association française pour l'information scientifique (AFIS), vice-president of the French UNESCO committee in 1990 and afterwards French permanent representative to UNESCO on behalf of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), received IHEU Award for services to Humanism in 2005.
  • Steven Pinker: Humanist of the Year in 2006 by the American Humanist Association, and is a Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.[2]
  • Charles Francis Potter: Signer of the original Humanist Manifesto.[21]
  • Karl Popper: Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.[2]
  • Sir Terry Pratchett: British novelist and satirist.[67]
  • Ilya Prigogine: Belgian physical chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry; one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto.[6]
  • Philip Pullman: English writer. Presented the International Humanist Award by the American Humanist Association in 2008.[68]

R

[edit]

S

[edit]

T

[edit]

U

[edit]

V

[edit]

W

[edit]

Y

[edit]
  • Thom Yorke: English musician and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the rock band Radiohead.

Z

[edit]
  • Frank Zappa: American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works.[94]
  • Howard Zinn: American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist.[110]

See also

[edit]

Notes and references

[edit]
  1. ^ Clark Adams: 1969–2007 Archived 2008-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, American Humanist Association News Flash, May 24, 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v The International Academy of Humanism Archived 2008-04-24 at the Wayback Machine at the website of the Council for Secular Humanism. Retrieved 18 October 2007. Some of this information is also at the International Humanist and Ethical Union Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine website
  3. ^ A Tribute to Steve Allen Archived 2009-08-13 at the Wayback Machine, by Paul Kurtz, Skeptical Inquirer magazine, January/February 2001. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  4. ^ "1.2 A". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  5. ^ Ralph A. Alpher. "Cosmology and Humanism" (PDF). Humanism Today. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2013. This leads inevitably to my identifying philosophically as an agnostic and a humanist, and explains my temerity in sharing my views with you.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Humanism and Its Aspirations - Notable Signers". American Humanist Association. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  7. ^ "African Americans For Humanism (AAH) Advisory Board". Council for Secular Humanism. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013. James Andrews (Professor of Mathematics, Florida State University)
  8. ^ Peace, Print and Protestantism, p.131, C.S.L. Davies, London: Hart-Davies, MacGibbon, 1976
  9. ^ Asimov, Isaac (1994). I. Asimov: A Memoir. New York: Doubleday. p. 500. ISBN 0-385-41701-2.
  10. ^ Asimov, Isaac (1986-02-21). "Humanist: Making Bigger Circles" (Video). American Humanist Association. AME Inc. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
  11. ^ "Distinguished mathematician and supporter of Humanism."Professor Sir Michael Atiyah OM FRS Archived 2012-03-24 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ had a "humanist funeral service." A quiet goodbye for TV's Ronnie Barker, Telegraph.co.uk, 14 October 2005. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
  13. ^ Warren Allen Smith (2005). Gossip From Across The Pond. chelCpress. p. 28. ISBN 9781583969168. Leonard Bernstein (who once accepted an American Humanist Association award)
  14. ^ Beckett, Claire; Beckett, Francis (2004). Bevan. p. 129.
  15. ^ "Construction in the Third and Fourth Dimension". Princeton University. Retrieved 4 October 2012. The Putnam Collection Pevsner, with its handsome black granite pedestal designed by the sculptor, serves additionally as a memorial to the Danish scientist and humanist Niels Bohr (1885–1962), who had longstanding personal and professional ties with colleagues in the Department of Physics at Princeton. A quotation from Bohr's 1950 letter to the United Nations, enunciating the policy of Open World, flanks the paving stones at the base of the sculpture.
  16. ^ Jan Swafford (2012). Johannes Brahms: A Biography. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 327. ISBN 9780307809896. He continued, in high theological mode. Brahms was not about to put up with that sort of thing. He was a humanist and an agnostic. and his requiem was going to express that, Reinthaler or no.
  17. ^ "Jacob Bronowski was a humanist, polymath and all round Renaissance man." [1]
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai Humanist Of The Year Archived 2013-01-14 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests, free-thinkers, fellow Humanists." – First line of Brown's opening speech Archived 2013-10-09 at the Wayback Machine at the World Humanist Congress 2005.
  20. ^ "Laureates of the International Academy of Humanism". Archived from the original on 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g Chapter 13: Publication of "A Humanist Manifesto", from The Genesis of a Humanist Manifesto, by Edwin H. Wilson, Humanist Press, a division of the American Humanist Association, 1995. Retrieved 19 October 2007 from The Secular Web.
  22. ^ The Humanist Interview: Noam Chomsky
  23. ^ To all appearances, and by all accounts, he was what many might call a secular humanist." Professor Leon Botstein writes: "He emerged as an adult without an ongoing connection to religion."
  24. ^ "Senior Staff". Humanism.org. BHA. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  25. ^ "BHA welcomes its newest Distinguished Supporter, Professor Brian Cox, as he talks "Big Science" at BHA's annual Voltaire Lecture". Humanism.org.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  26. ^ "Humanist profile: Francis Crick 1986 Humanist distinguished service awardee. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  27. ^ "Humanist profile: John Dewey (1859-1952). - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  28. ^ "Humanist profile: John H. Dietrich 1878-1957 1976 Humanist Pioneer (Posthumous).(Biography): An article from: The Humanist: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon. Archived from the original on 2014-12-19. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  29. ^ Obama Family Tree | Stanley Ann Dunham | 'Most generous spirit' Archived October 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ Roger Ebert (April 17, 2009). "How I believe in God". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
  31. ^ Stringer-Hye, Richard (1999), "Charles Francis Potter", Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography, Unitarian Universalist Historical Society, archived from the original on 2009-02-18, retrieved 2006-05-14
  32. ^ Wilson, Edwin H. (1995), "Chapter 2: The Background of Religious Humanism", Genesis of a Humanist Manifesto, The Secular Web Library, retrieved 2006-05-14
  33. ^ About Greg Epstein at Harvard
  34. ^ Flynn, Tom (June–July 2008). "Secularization Renewed?". Free Inquiry. 29 (4): 14–15.
  35. ^ "Fourier, Joseph". Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Desk Reference. Merriam-Webster. 2000. p. 599. ISBN 9780877790174. As a scientist and a humanist, he epitomized the spirit of French intellectualism of the revolutionary era.
  36. ^ "Does goodness require God? Do we need eternity for meaningful lives? Should we believe in God without evidence? Peter Cave’s new book, Humanism, is a welcome guide, with very human answers, to these questions and many more. With historical adherents as various as Mark Twain, Einstein, Freud, Philip Pullman, and Frank Zappa, humanism’s central quest is to live with meaning with no need for the supernatural."Peter Cave - Humanism Archived 2014-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  37. ^ "Stephen Fry: 'it is essential to nail one's colours to the mast as a humanist.'". British Humanist Association News. February 4, 2010. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  38. ^ a b "Humanism and Its Aspirations - Nobel Laureates". American Humanist Association. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  39. ^ A.C. Grayling's professional website, "Academic Interests" [2]
  40. ^ "Print News: Greg Graffin to be Honored for Lifetime Achievement in Atheism, Punk Rock, and Science". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  41. ^ "Handler says he's 'pretty much' an atheist..." Autumn of a book-lover’s contentment Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, Marvin Olasky, World Magazine, October 07, 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  42. ^ "Mr. Handler... describes himself as a 'secular humanist.'", Lemony Snicket reaches 'The End', By Todd Leopold, CNN.com, October 5, 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  43. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  44. ^ In 1996 Hayden was recognized as the Australian Humanist of the Year with the statement that "The award is made because he has shown that an avowed atheist who describes himself as a secular humanist can occupy the position of Governor-General with mounting approval." Australian Humanist, No. 41 February 1996
  45. ^ "Being an atheist – as I am – is not a necessary pre-condition for being a humanist." in his acceptance speech for "Australian Humanist of the Year", reported in Australian Humanist, No 42, May 1996
  46. ^ List of awards and nominations received by Katharine Hepburn
  47. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  48. ^ "Humanism and Its Aspirations – Notable Signers". American Humanist Association. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  49. ^ 1850–1952: The road to the founding congress, excerpted from International Humanist and Ethical Union 1952–2002: Past, present and future, Bert Gasenbeek and Babu Gogineni (eds.), De Tijdstroom uitgeverij, 2002, retrieved 19 October 2007 from the website of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.
  50. ^ Atheist, Friendly. "'A Modern Inquisition' by Dr. Jack Kevorkian". Friendly Atheist. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  51. ^ a b Humanist Manifesto II Archived 2007-08-09 at the Wayback Machine, by Paul Kurtz and Edwin H. Wilson, The Humanist magazine, September/October 1973, American Humanist Association. Retrieved from the website of the American Humanist Association Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine 19 October 2007.
  52. ^ Silverman, Herb (October 23, 2012). "Remembering Paul Kurtz". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012.
  53. ^ NY, Frank, Independent Consultant, New York. "'The Affirmative Ethics of Humanism' by Corliss Lamont". www.corliss-lamont.org. Retrieved 2020-07-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  54. ^ "King Lear - post-journal.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Jamestown | Post-Journal". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  55. ^ "Simon Le Bon >> Humanists UK". Humanism.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  56. ^ "Stewart Lee". Humanism.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  57. ^ Manifesto III Signers
  58. ^ Reelz TV series Demons in the City of Angels, episode aired 3:00 PM Eastern Time on October 11, 2017, "Slaughter on the Studio Steps."
  59. ^ Karin Badt, "In Memorium to My Cousin Bobby Lees"
  60. ^ Michel Morange (2005). "What history tells us III. André Lwoff: From protozoology to molecular definition of viruses" (PDF). p. 593. Retrieved 23 July 2013. His culture was not limited to biology: André Lwoff was a humanist (Lwoff 1981).
  61. ^ "Paul MacCready, the inventor, defines it thus: "A secular humanist does not believe in God, and doesn't steal."" Paul Kurtz, Is Secular Humanism a Religion?.
  62. ^ "British Humanist Association website". Humanism.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-05-08. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
  63. ^ "Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru (1889-1964)". Humanists UK. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  64. ^ "Pandit Nehru – The Humanist". The India Post. 2009-11-19. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  65. ^ "J. Robert Oppenheimer, Atom Bomb Pioneer, Dies". The New York Times. February 19, 1967. Retrieved 18 August 2012. A brilliant nuclear physicist, with a comprehensive grasp of his field, Dr. Oppenheimer was also a cultivated scholar, a humanist, a linguist of eight tongues and a brooding searcher for ultimate spiritual values.
  66. ^ Ellen Page. "Girl Power". Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012. To me, the idea is, 'Why wouldn't I be a feminist?' Why wouldn't everybody be a feminist, humanist, environmentalist? It's so funny that environmentalism has such a stigma to it or that organic food is considered a fad. Actually, no, it's the way we have been eating for 99.99 percent of the time human beings have been on Earth.
  67. ^ Profile: Terry Pratchett "I'm a humanist, which means I'm an atheist, the trouble with being an atheist is that it lets God off the hook." BBC News. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
  68. ^ "Philip Pullman (1964-present) International Humanist 2008. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  69. ^ "Anne Rice". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  70. ^ Humanists UK
  71. ^ Interview of Gene Roddenberry: Writer, Producer, Philosopher, Humanist, by David Alexander, The Humanist magazine, March/April 1991. Archived version accessed 19 October 2007.
  72. ^ "Intereview with Gene Roddenberry". Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  73. ^ "Sir Joseph Rotblat (1908-2005)". Humanists UK. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  74. ^ Ramendra Nath, Manbendra Nath Roy (1887–1954)," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.iep.utm.edu/
  75. ^ Hour, The Humanist (2007-05-02). "HNN #18: Salman Rushdie & Cultural Humanism". The Humanist Hour. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  76. ^ Rosalind Carey, John Ongley (2009). Historical Dictionary of Bertrand Russell's Philosophy. Scarecrow Press. p. 94. ISBN 9780810862920.
  77. ^ Stephen Law (2011). Humanism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9780191614002. Many prominent 20th-century thinkers were humanists, including Bertrand Russell,...
  78. ^ "There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge and wisdom. Shall we instead choose death because we cannot forget our quarrels? Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new paradise; if you cannot, nothing lies before you but universal death." [3]
  79. ^ "Said takes on the responsibility for re-launching the figure of the intellectual humanist, by identifying the scope, the purpose and the role that the latter should have in the current day and age. According to Said, two key beliefs form the essence of humanism: firstly, the historical world is made by men and women and not by God and secondly, it can be rationally understood according to the principles formulated by Vico. The humanist is called upon to use philology as a rigorous instrument with which he contributes to the only form of knowledge available, namely, knowledge which is knowing how something is made."Edward W. Said, Humanism and democratic criticism, Il Saggiatore, Milan, 2007
  80. ^ J. Götschl (1992). Erwin Schrödinger's World View: The Dynamics of Knowledge and Reality. Springer. ISBN 9780792316947.
  81. ^ "Though his philosophical views evolved over the years – 'The term that best describes me now is "secular humanist,"' he explained – his characters continued to quote biblical passages, occasionally musing about the darker inconsistencies of religion. These thoughtful reflections were never heavy-handed; rather, Schulz had become the reigning master of the lighter-than-air, spiritually resonant comic-strip koan." David Templeton from the December 30, 1999 –January 5, 2000 issue of the Sonoma County Independent. Metroactive – My Lunch with Sparky, Metro Publishing Inc.
  82. ^ "Theologically speaking, Rod was what we call a naturalistic humanist..." Reverend Ernest Pipes, speaking of Rod Serling, who was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, California. Looking back: 'Twilight Zone' writer challenged prejudice, by Kimberly French, UU World magazine, Vol. XXI, Nol 4, Winter 2007.
  83. ^ "Humanist Manifesto III Public Signers". American Humanist Association. 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2012-04-09.
  84. ^ Debrett's People of Today (2009)
  85. ^ Stephen Law (2011). Humanism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9780191614002. Today's most prominent and influential ethicist, Peter Singer, is a humanist.
  86. ^ "Patrons". Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  87. ^ "Wole Soyinka's International Humanist Award acceptance speech – full text". International Humanist and Ethical Union. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  88. ^ "Wole Soyinka wins International Humanist Award". British Humanist Association. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  89. ^ "The Humanist Interview with Gloria Steinem". TheHumanist.com. 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  90. ^ Association, American Humanist (2012-10-09), George Takei - 2012 LGBT Humanist Pride Award, retrieved 2020-07-02
  91. ^ "Kinship with the natural World." Dennis McCarthy, Oregonian, November 19, 1998.
  92. ^ "A Secular Humanist Declaration". Council For Secular Humanism. 1980. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  93. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  94. ^ a b "Does goodness require God? Do we need eternity for meaningful lives? Should we believe in God without evidence? Peter Cave’s new book, Humanism, is a welcome guide, with very human answers, to these questions and many more. With historical adherents as various as Mark Twain, Einstein, Freud, Philip Pullman, and Frank Zappa, humanism’s central quest is to live with meaning with no need for the supernatural."Peter Cave – Humanism Archived 2014-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  95. ^ "The Humanist - a magazine of critical inquiry and social concern". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  96. ^ Peter Belohlavek, John W Wagner (2008). Innovation: The Lessons of Nikola Tesla. Blue Eagle Group. p. 43. ISBN 9789876510097. This was Tesla: a scientist, philosopher, humanist, and ethical man of the world in the truest sense.
  97. ^ Jill Jonnes (2004). Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 154. ISBN 9780375758843. Tesla, just thirty-one, was as much a true humanist as ever, seeking to ease the hard labor of the whole world with his spectacular induction motor and alternating current system.
  98. ^ Judy Wearing (2009). Edison's Concrete Piano: Flying Tanks, Six-Nippled Sheep, Walk-On-Water Shoes, and 12 Other Flops From Great Inventors. ECW Press. ISBN 9781554905515. Tesla, the unselfish humanist he was, would roll over in his grave.
  99. ^ Marc J. Seifer (1996). Wizard: the life and times of Nikola Tesla: biography of a genius. Citadel Press. p. 506. ISBN 9780806519609. Frank Jenkins, "Nikola Tesla: The Man, Engineer, Inventor, Humanist and Innovator," in Nikola Tesla: Life and Work of a Genius (Belgrade: Yugoslav Society for the Promotion of Scientific Knowledge, 1976), pp. 10–21.
  100. ^ "I found that Swedish Humanist Association existed and what they stood for, and as a result I became a member." Ulvaeus, in an interview by Christer Sturmark, from Humanisten, Issue No. 4, December 2005. Translation to English by Marika Granerus, posted at the website of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
  101. ^ "Cenk Uygur will Name his Son Prometheus". Youtube.com. 2008-06-16. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
  102. ^ "It Can't All be True | the Humanist". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  103. ^ "Remembering Gore Vidal: A Masterful Humanist Voice". American Humanist Association. August 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012. As honorary president of the American Humanist Association since 2009, Vidal added an enthusiastic, progressive and dynamic voice to the AHA and the humanist movement.
  104. ^ Atheist, Friendly. "Gore Vidal Named Honorary President of American Humanist Association". Friendly Atheist. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  105. ^ "The Humanist - a magazine of critical inquiry and social concern". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  106. ^ Humanist Scholars To Examine Islam And The Koran Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, by Matt Cherry, Secular Humanist Bulletin, Volume 13, Number 1. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  107. ^ Joss Whedon on Humanism
  108. ^ "In Memorium: Ed Wilson". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  109. ^ "Steve "The Woz" Wozniak: 2011 Isaac Asimov Science Award". Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2014-10-31.
  110. ^ Humanist Voices: Howard Zinn (1922-2010) Archived 2014-12-19 at the Wayback Machine