Fall Lunch & Talk- Charles Murn: How Freedom from Deities Shapes Humanist Values

Greater Boston Humanists will hold our first lunch and lecture of the Fall on a Sunday afternoon this time, with Cambridge's free street parking, and a special speaker from Washington DC. We'll gather Sunday, October 28, in Cambridge at the India Pavilion restaurant in Central Square, with a lunch buffet at 1:30 followed by special guest speaker Charles Murn, who will speak to us on “How Freedom From Deities Shapes Humanist Values.”

The historical arc of modern humanist philosophy shows that the earlier humanist philosophers’ background in religion gave them a unique perspective. For the segue into a full philosophy compatible with nontheism, agnosticism, secularism, and atheism, the key was their recognition and insistence that humanist values do not in any way depend on belief in one or more deities. That recognition freed them to explore the true origin of human values.

Their conclusions informed their selection of values, such as truth, democracy, and education, that make humanist philosophy such an excellent vehicle for societal advancement.

But by failing to root those values in something more than "experience," humanism has left itself open to criticism as only replacing gods with incorrigible human beings. This talk examines how the "human" in humanism in fact grounds humanist values, from human rights, freedom, and liberty, to equal opportunity, social justice, and economic equity, in the nature of human existence.

Charles Murn is “The Applied Humanist,” a humanist philosopher working as an independent scholar. He works as a legal writer and a lawyer. He edited and contributed essays to the book, The Best of The Humanist: Humanist Philosophy 1928 - 1973, published in April, 2018 by Humanist Press. He is former Editor of The Human Prospect: A Neohumanist Perspective. He has written a number of philosophical articles and reviews, and has written extensively on U.S. law. His web page is https:/appliedhumanist.com.

The India Pavilion offers a variety of Indian dishes, many vegetarian, for our special group rate of $14 a person, drinks not included (all you care to eat buffet which includes vegetarian dishes). Parking is available on the street (free in Cambridge on Sundays) or in paid parking garage on Green Street.