A.C. Grayling: The Origins and Future of Humanism
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- Опубліковано 14 кві 2017
- ‘Humanism is the philosophy that you should be a good guest at the dinner table of life.’
In recent years, the eminent British philosopher A.C. Grayling has been a respectful and emphatic voice within the New Atheist movement. During his distinguished career, he’s celebrated ideals of human rationality and progress, arguing for humanism as a powerful, practical alternative to religion. The author of more than 30 books, including What Is Good?, The God Argument and The Age of Genius, Grayling has articulated these values with academic rigour and eloquence.
In this talk, Grayling defines humanism and outlines its roots in the philosophy of classical antiquity. He’ll make a case for a universal ethics - one that honours human individuality, freedom and dignity - that can overcome the shortcomings and restrictions of organised religion.
Part lecture, part discussion (with Krystal Evans) - spend an hour with this exceptional philosopher for an invigorating perspective on what it means to be human, and humanist.
One of my favorite cartoons shows a sage saying to others, "Now you can quote me, but don't go running around making a religion out of it!"
Professor Grayling is seriously underrated. People need to see and listen to his ideas. Amazing intellect!
Then show how it could be we got all this on its own.
The 1LofT states that energy can't be created or destroyed, it can't happen naturally. One aspect of the 2LofT shows that the universe is winding down, usable energy is becoming less usable. It is clear creation had to be done supernaturally yet it is still denied because people are just too proud to accept that, among other things.
As a supernumerary professor of philosophy at the University of Oxford at least he’s not academically underrated!
@@rogerpenfold117 says the person who can't get around what I wrote of him.
The considered life. Somebody, I can't recall who, once said, "A man should do three things during his life, first bring children into the world (and raise them to be happy), second plant a tree (grow things and interact with the natural world) and last write a book. I intend to write my autobiography the least part of which will be the events of my life. The better part will be the philosophy, or how I grew from bring raised as a catholic to becoming an agnostic (99% atheist) and humanist. I have raised my children and planted trees but the book that I write may be the thing which lasts the longest and influences my descendants for the better. I hope I can complete it and finesse it before I die.
A. C. Grayling is a brilliant philosopher and speaker. I have the amateurs view of history as I have not studied under any professor. Grayling adds nuance to the little I know. And I am grateful to have heard him speak.
Well, I never had any children (for which the gene pool can be grateful) or written a book (for which readers of all types can be the same), but I've planted hundreds of trees. I've also written a lot of music, most of which no one will ever hear, but I'm all the spiritually (in a manner of speaking) richer for having done so.
@@c.a.t.732 By planting trees you have done more than your share to keep the biosphere in balance. As for the music, be brave, record it and get it up on UA-cam. It may be the longest lasting legacy.
@@c.a.t.732 And another thing, writing and playing music is the same as writing a book. You tell a story, put a point of view, you say something. And doing it to music is often more powerful than just the written word.
What a fantastic talk by Prof Grayling. Being an atheist and an anti-theist I've been struggling for a while about also calling myself a humanist and needed to gain a fuller understanding of what humanism is about. Prof Grayling explained it beautifully and with such eloquence so thank you for uploading his talk.
How do you clueless beings account for how we got all this? Do you ever really think or just enjoy pretending you do?
The 1LofT states that energy can't be created or destroyed, it can't happen naturally. One aspect of the 2LofT shows that the universe is winding down, usable energy is becoming less usable. It is clear creation had to be done supernaturally yet it is still denied because people are just too proud to accept that, among other things.
Excellent presentation and questions. Mr. Grayling is a reservoir of historical knowledge and current, relevant philosophy. We are all fortunate that information of this quality is available on the internet.
Now, if he only really used his brain for thinking.
The 1LofT states that energy can't be created or destroyed, it can't happen naturally. One aspect of the 2LofT shows that the universe is winding down, usable energy is becoming less usable. It is clear creation had to be done supernaturally yet it is still denied because people are just too proud to accept that, among other things.
I really admire Professor Grayling.
The first 33 minutes is pure poetry! Anthony Grayling beautifully describes humanism in such a way it would be impossible to dismiss.
To me, it's super easy to dismiss. You clueless beings don't think much.
The 1LofT states that energy can't be created or destroyed, it can't happen naturally. One aspect of the 2LofT shows that the universe is winding down, usable energy is becoming less usable. It is clear creation had to be done supernaturally yet it is still denied because people are just too proud to accept that, among other things.
What a wonderful talk by Prof A.C. Grayling. Such an intelligent and eloquent man. I didn't know much about Humanism before listening to this talk but now know a great deal more. Many thanks to him and aren't we lucky to have such wisdom available to us.
THANK YOU MR GRAYLING.
that is so brilliant & inspirational. thank you
A C Grayling never disappoints. I only hope his talks had more views
MrSidney9 I share the interesting lectures on Facebook, in hope that I might arouse someone’s curiosity.
Yes wonderful
you prolly dont care but does anybody know a tool to log back into an instagram account?
I somehow lost my password. I appreciate any assistance you can offer me!
@Dwayne Jayce instablaster :)
@Jairo Braden i really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and im in the hacking process now.
Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
Very good.
I really enjoyed the talk, thank you
This is awesome. I recently started practicing stoicism about 6 months ago (because religion has too many rules) and only heard of humanism. I didn't know humanism is so closely related to stoicism. I love the clear way of thinking. Cool. 👌
I'm NOT religious and I'm NOT a Christian.
However, I am a believer in Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior and it doesn't get any simpler than that (one rule). What a beautiful concept that most people truly don't grasp. Anyone who cannot comprehend that we will ALL be together in heaven including the most ruthless and horrible people you can imagine than they are not a true believer and just don't get it.
Historians agree that a guy we have come to know as Jesus was born on the earth and was crucified. The only gap we have to connect is who was Jesus and did he die on the cross to forgive us for ALL of our sins in the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE. At 55 years old, I decided to read the bible from cover to cover, on my own, in the hope of figuring things out. Well, it worked! I and developed a very comfortable understanding of my relationship with God (which includes a lot of arguing and even cursing at him).
God does not need or want my help or anyone's help for that matter (kinda) convincing others that he is real and truly exists. He's got this whole life thing totally under control and he is so much more intelligent than all the people put on this earth combined.
God came down to earth in the form of a guy we've come to know as J.C. (Jesus Christ) which means Jesus is God and God is Jesus (Mmmm). Everything God tried to do up that point did not work out as planned and he wanted to see it for himself what were the issues (turns out it was mostly greed via jealousy, and envy). If you can connect the tiny little gap who this fella named Jesus was and why he was crucified (to forgive us ALL for ALL of our sins PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE) than you're a believer.
The only other recommendation I suggest after achieving that epiphany is to recite, understand and decipher the "Lord’s Prayer" on a daily basis (if not several times a day). In particular pay attention to "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN" line. This statement is why we have morals and a conscience and why we should help each other understand our relationship with God (J.C.). Otherwise, we will never get to heaven until we recognize heaven is on earth and learn to treat each other the way we want to be treated (blah, blah, blah). We all need to experience the absolute best and the absolute worst this finite life has to offer so we can enjoy an infinite life in heaven with EVERYONE. We accomplish this via our own life experiences (testaments) and by witnessing other people’s experiences (testaments and testimonies).
We will finally get there one day when we realize that LOVE conquers all and nothing we achieved, obtained or accomplished (or didn't) means anything in heaven. There is no room for hate, jealousy and greed in heaven. This mindset will open the kingdom of heaven to all of us.
Scientists believe that when we die there's a very finite amount of time between when we actually die and are proclaimed to be dead. In addition to that they believe we lose a very slight amount of weight immediately after we die too. God intentionally has no concept of time and in those nano or micro seconds before we actually die, God (Jesus) appears to us all and gives us one last chance to accept him (Jesus) as our Lord and Savior and guess what? 100% of us accept his invitation. Kinda sucks that some people get to live their lives as scum bags and dirt bags while the rest of us chose to kinda sorta stay on the straight and narrow. But hey this is God's universe no yours or mine. It's said that the weight loss is actually our sole going to heaven which is a nice thought but not particularly relevant to our journey into heaven other than we made it. I just thought I'd throw that in there (for free).
Hopefully you can see that having a conscience is a complete useless and worthless if you believe we are only on this earth one time and become mulch when we die. It serves no purpose to have a conscience other to control us. I didn't think having a conscience and living by the Golden Rule was even relevant on how to get into heaven until I continued to say and decipher the Lord’s Prayer and figured out the heaven on earth thing.
This speaker is interesting but I wouldn't give up on believing if I were you. It's completely up to you as it will not affect my life in any way, shape or form. However, it could delay when we all will get to heaven but hey it's for eternity so what's a few years. How wonderful is it to think for one second that there could be such a wonderful place to go after we die where we can see our loved ones again and see each other in the best light, we remember each other as opposed to becoming mulch?
Lastly pray often for yourself mostly for little and big things and put God to the test. When they happen or don't happen try to figure out why and you'll get more answers than you'll ever need. Best of luck to ya!
So much wisdom!
An amazing thinker
It is so true that we cannot get a truly intellectual president in the U.S. People want a “buddy” type personality in the office. I love my buds but neither of them would make a great president.
This thinker is admirable!
incredible
Your answer to the last question was inspirational as is your whole philosophy even though I feel the world is further away from a Humanism ideology than ever, and that hurts.
I think its, if you have to google it you weren't there, but like you, I was there and I google stuff sometimes just as a reminder. I was told once by a young man on a mall protest in Bristol to You Tube my own area to find out about the situation there. St Pauls was just coming out of a hairy phase that is romanticised by lots of people but was precarious to live in. Needless to say it is now gentrified.
I always think of Leon Trotsky as the politician who died before his accountability could be put to the test.
I just don't understand your implied support for the Clinton Dynasty that elevated a black man into office on the strength of his colour. At the time of the American election I realise if Mr Biden gets elected it will be, in effect, his 3rd term of office and that reminds me of Mr Bush Senior, who governed for Mr Reagan.
Anyway I'm worried about what is left of Syria if his party wins.
As for the vote to leave Europe I believe it was the fascism spouted by PMJ and Mr Farage that took Britain out, not some yuppies who play with computers and elevate themselves into a position of power, in a similar way to Gates etc. Many on the the left (the Trotskyists) egged people on to vote leave too. it was in the last couple of weeks I took an interest, realised we'd lose and voted, bristol was so depressed that day it was pitiful.
I've never understood the term Judeo/Christianity that was only reintroduced into the Western speke a few of decades ago, doubtlessly to mask the part Britain/America played in 2nd world war and the atrocities committed in the death camps. Anyway to me there are far more similarities between islam and Judaism, they are both about submission, though, I suspect it might be down to cultural similarities, rather than religious ones. Christianity was Westernised at a really early stage of its development, the Christian church in Arabia is very different though all the religions now adhere to Roman doctrine to an extent. Not the Copts.
Glad you didn't respond to the Muslim threat question also for explaining the signifigance of secularism.
I think the instruction of the 10 commandments is a healthy but common sensical code of conduct as long as we can bend the rules a little and add to it.
I hated RI in school too but as I research Syrian history I'm fascinated by the impact of religion on the Middle East. In your discussion with Tom Holland you pointed out that the Muslim hierarchy translated more of the Greek texts, I think it was because the Umiyyads had barely converted to one God when they first colonised Syria, thus were more open minded. Interesting because I believe the dynasty was the first to consider secularism and it is hated by the adherents to the practice of Islam according to strict Quranic principles. The Mosque in Aleppo was bombed bt the Islamists in the early years of the war. I've got a phote of it in my album so was sad.
I enjoy Professor Grayling ,having listened to his lecture on Wittgenstein Games theory about twenty times , The only time i stuttered was when in this lecture when speaking of his self as living in the sixties and contrary to what some says " if you remembered the sixties you never lived it " He by intent was making a dig at Bob Dylan '. ( who has won more awards than anyone in academia ,,, from the Pope, Presidents and Nobel Peace Prize ) That dig by him is the downside of academia . Dylan was the centre of the storm ,not a A AFTER THE FACT remark from the comforts of the stuffy walls of Cambridge . I like a piece of ancient wisdom that Carl Jung liked ''' One can see far from the mountain top but in order to understand one has to go down in the valley " Both Wittgenstein and Dylan went down into the Valley thus understands , I have certainly learned from listening to Atheists on You Tube ,that they are two faced , Depending on their audience they personify themselves differently , In this lecture it is clear he is not a wise man and does not understand Wittgenstein as he claims through his powder puff words .has put the lid back on the fly jar,. He should keep his personal life and digs out of his lectures . He casts a shadow over religion so appear enlightenment . I most certainly have dropped Cambridge from the altar of academia ( the new Heaven of Earth ) The upside is I immediately became aware of the value of my own wisdom after understanding how inflated he is rather than being a man of wisdom .He is a academic puff ball that clings like a disease to the academic stick . He is not a genius and this was a great disappointment ..I understand why Russel said upon reading Wittgenstein doctorial thesis .that it was a work of genius adding he also qualifies for a PH D . Meaning genius is above a PHD paper. .
People often think humanism is one of the lofty thoughts by the philosophers. But we all are humanists and it's as natural as being human. The problem of being humanist arises when we are challenged by the harsh reality of inequality, poverty and injustice. These have dehumaniszing effect. The Nordic countries were very wise to set up universal welfare systems from very early times to prevent the dehumanization in their societies. As to the religion, we all should get inspired by the Danish thinker Grundtvig who said it so aptly: Human first and Christian next!
Why Christian? Isn’t the privileging of one religion part of the social problem that secular humanism is seeking to solve. Why not just simply humanist, full stop?
You're absolutely right. I used the quote just to be inspired by a man who put human first before the religion even though he was a priest and devout believer in Christianity. I'm not religious, but I respect all religions for their good intentions.
Humanism sounds a lot like Christianity without a diety. Or, moreso, what it should be.
The bit about the immortal soul being added 400 years post script caught me a bit. I checked the original texts, and sure enough every time the word "soul" is used its pretty much interchangeable with "life" or "fullness of being". Guess I need to go find something else for my entire life to be about...
I honestly thought that was Jerry springer in that thumbnail
LOL He mentioned Mary Whitehouse, "the only person in the universe who had a television set without an off button, so she was forced to watch all that nudity after 9 o'clock at night." And do you remember what Roger Waters said about her in the lyrics to "Pigs (Three Different Ones)":
Hey you, Whitehouse
Ha, ha, charade you are
You house proud town mouse
Ha, ha, charade you are
The problem is that atheist regimes such as the Nazi or communist regimes have been the cruelest in history.
As an atheist regime the Nazi party had the full support of the Catholic Church - the first organisation to sign a pact with the National Socialist’s. Their support of the Nazi’s continued well after 1945.
Humanism is floating in the river of jungle law
Voter: Mr. Stevenson, every thinking person in the US of America is gonna vote for you!
Adlai Stevenson: Pleased to hear that but I need a majority. (17:27)
(faceplant!)
After this 2020 vote, I see the sad truth in this!
Very Europe centered worldview....
Why the down-votes?
He has a few people who gush about how amazing he is, but the majority despise his arrogance and failure to engage with anyone who doesn't agree with everything he says. I've downvoted it (I almost forgot, so thanks for reminding me!)
Because he talks melodious clap trap. So we must all choose our own beliefs. Unless it's Trump. Apparently we can shoot him because he didn't choose to have the right thoughts and choose the right life. What if after much thought and consideration we decide there is a God. Is that wrong think? Do we deserve shooting as well then? How does he KNOW there isn't a God? He obviously hasn't heard about the Brahma Kumaris either - headed and run by WOMEN! So we are all to be our own little gods are we? Well history is littered with examples of where that leads us - straight to Hell on Earth.
Both science and religion are man-made. Hence both are a form of “humanism” ?
Titter if people saw a crane about to drop it's load on someone most of them would get their iPhone out, that's humanism
I have it on good authority that Mr. Grayling is the parthenogenic offspring of Alice Cooper... Or Frank Zappa...or something.
Father Christmas does exist he alters millions of people's lives every year surely something that doesn't exist couldn't do that
Humanists don't believe in the miracle of life.
Jesus was different from all these “thinkers”. And this guy is being very dishonest about the difference between Catholicism and Christianity.
Grayling respectful? Are you kidding? Oh you mean he's respectful to anyone who agrees with him, of course!
Astonishing that such an obviously intellectual giant and thoughtful person could imagine that Humanism is distinct from Christianity on the basis of thinking for yourself and choice. Christians choose the God-Man who towers above all other people in human history. They seek to follow His instructions of loving your enemies and forgiving others no matter what they have done to you. True Christianity brings true life in this world. Having the freedom to operate according to your own choices leads to all kinds of suffering. Human history testifies to numerous crimes against humanity derived from choices made by the perpetrators which no doubt were their considered choices. Is it really the case that no-one has the absolute authority to say their actions were wrong?
Does anyone else see the irony?
Christians do not choose to follow the God-Man on the basis that this choice will lead to less human suffering though, but on the basis that they expect this will save their souls from hell in the afterlife, regardless to how much human suffering ihat choice might lead in this life or not.
If their reasons for following the God-Man were instead that this will lead to the least human suffering and most human flourishing in this life, then they would actually be humanists. Albeit one might then argue about whether following the God-Man really leads to the least suffering or not, or what parts of it do and what don't, since "love your enemy" and "forgiveness" aren't the only Christian precepts, nor unique to Christianity.
david moore
Christianity no longer makes any sense now that we know it’s a consolidation of Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Greek religions before it and has no Israeli material culture in Canaan. As a matter of fact the bible identifies white people as children of the Titans (giants). Save your response that I do not understand it because I was born Roman Catholic, studied the Protestants, studied Egyptians and Mesopotamians and the bible for 30 years.
Now we have secular vegans who want us meat eaters brain dead or just plain dead.
How dare he conduct such a blanket attack on religion and God? There are many different concepts of God, from the man-in-the-sky God to the God of Spinoza, Einstein, Meister Eckhart, and Eckhart Tolle. Throwing the baby out with the bath water does not require any thinking, Professor Grayling. The challenge is in the fine-tuning. The challenge is in saving the baby before you throw out the bath water. You talk about open-mindedness, but you did not exhibit it in this lecture yourself. You just tried to score cheap points by attacking Trump, men, and the worst manifestations of all those things that you hate.
Its laughable he talks about empathy and tolerance while being so derogatory about religion. He knows religion is an allegory not to be taken literally, that ironically extols all the virtues he's advocating. But then again he's a climate alarmist which tells you all you need to know about his faux ideology. Where does nihilism lead us? The coup d'tat were currently under going is a good example!
@@schmetterling4477 I see a troll account. Go and get a real job
Listening to reasons to be a Christian after a lifetime of atheistic agnosticism.
UA-cam ruined the rabbit hole.
I've been listening to these arguments for years.
Gotta steer people away from god I guess?
The UA-cam algorithm doesn't necessarily show you what's true, but it tries to recommend what it "thinks" is likely to keep you watching. If you've been watching the same stuff for years... I think that's indication you've been successfully pulled into a rabbit hole. Anyway, honestly considering contrasting views to your own can be helpful for personal/intellectual development.
@@jarbarw2473
The rabbit hole I was in was humanistic atheism.
UA-cam used to throw videos similar to whatever the previous video was. Now it gives you the opposite, or a milk toast variant.
The immense spoon embryologically name because dry summatively flow athwart a fixed belief. zesty, short brush
This has only happened twice
Until I heard Mr. Grayling speak in this video, I did not understand why so many people view 'secular humanism' as being a 'secular religion.' Everything he says and his entire demeanor when he says it, strongly reminds me of my Sunday morning priests. Evokes Marx, doesn't it? Hostile to religion, then establishes his 'philosophy' as a secular religion complete with apocalyptic predictions, saviors, salvation, and above all, 'sacrifice.'
That's what you got out of it? Take off your foggy biased glasses and try again.
“Evokes Marx, doesn’t it?”
No, not at all.
Grayling is a professor and lecturer, that is, his entire professional life is based around oration, which mirrors that of clergymen, pastors, and preachers. To see this as “evidence” of “secular religion” is merely a strawman that religionists invoke in order to rationalize their irrational posturing.
You seem to be suffering from cognitive dissonance. Please learn to think beyond personal biases.
Cyrstal opening, she should realize that we are all indigenous to the Earth , to give special tribute, comes off as white guilt.
@@schmetterling4477 The other cultures are product of generational weirdness, and backwardness. Leading to further starvation inbreeding, and low IQ
I enjoyed all of this except for the anti trump rhetoric. He contradicted his own beliefs with those comments.
How so?
What sort of nonsense is he talking, Trump effectively won by a landslide, he won by an even larger margin than Obama did. AC grayling is such a brilliant man when it comes to ethics and philosophy and some history, and perhaps language too, but he really fails muster when it comes to his liberal left politics. It saddens me that he doesn't really seem to be able to think critically and learn the facts on some of these liberal Left standpoints, which strangely he seems able to do with every other field of study. It really depresses me when he talks about Russia hijacking the election or comparing 9/11 to the allied bombings of Hamburg. Such a sad thing when such a brilliant man can believe such nonsense.
What are you talking about? Obama won the popular vote and electoral college by larger margins, both times
Assuming you are a humanist, how could you vote for people like Trump, who promotes religious bigotry? Something is not right with you.
@@Liberated_from_ReligionI agree. No one with any humanity could vote for TFG. He is everything humanists are not.
❤❤❤
grayling is a wonderful historian... he is a horrible humanitarian....
God is not a ism. God is the creator . Don't fall in love with all worlds different lism