HUMANISM
What is humanism?
Humanism is cultural rationale for beheviour. Although there are several ways that humanism has been defined, perhaps the one way that includes them all is the statement from a commentator in Ancient Greece: Man is the measure of all things. In the current idiom that could be re-stated as: a system of thought that centers on humans and their values, capacities and worth (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). The context of the statement from Ancient Greece is that at that time philosophy was enamored with the idea that mathematics was the basis of all rational thought - so the commentator's premise was that human interests were what made measurement worthwhile. The modern version of humanism changes this premise into the substance of the concept.
What it is a good idea to keep in mind though, is that this concept of "humanity" is an idealized one, not a reference to real folk with their "warts and all". The ethic of humanism transcends ordinary people in their everyday lives. It more particularly romanticizes the cultural heritage of the species, and those individuals and activities that contribute to that heritage. The "greater good" is attributed to cultural creators (innovators) rather than culture consumers (the public).
How is humanism manifest?
The issue that both ancient and modern humanism deal with is: what should be the most appropriate focus of human enquiry and endeavor? The opposite view from humanism in the ancient world was the one which originated in Astrology and was later adopted by Philosophy, namely: As above, so below. And although Science has replaced both Astrology and Philosophy in the modern world, it implicitly still holds to that older rationale. Astrology, Philosophy, and Science are based on the notion that there is a larger context in which human life is situated, and into which human understanding and behavior have to fit. The humanist reply is that the value and role of everything outside of humanity is to serve human purposes. Neither the humanist view nor its alternatives can be declared ultimately "correct" OR "incorrect", because all of these claims are based on what different people value, NOT on any facts per se.
When humanists prioritize human activities and interests over other considerations, this is what they do: they glorify human culture and human accomplishments. So, for instance, putting a man on the moon is not seen as a "big technological success" but rather another "triumph of the human spirit" - for humanists it's not the space craft or the space agency that gets attention, but rather the vision, struggle, bravery, and accomplishments of all the humans on the project. Perhaps the starkest way to express it is this: the ONLY thing which provides any significance to anything is the human purpose behind it and the human endeavor within it. To anyone who considers this an excessive view, humanists simply point to the techno-euphoria of the modern age as the opposite extreme against which they are reacting.
References
Alan Bullock
THE HUMANIST TRADITION IN THE WEST
W.W. Norton, New York, 1988