At the 50th anniversary congress of the IHEU held in Amsterdam in 2002 the congress formulated and adopted by resolution a new Declaration, known as the Amsterdam Declaration 2002, outlining the basic principles of Humanism, This declaration revised the original declaration passed at the inaugural congress in 1952. The new declaration is printed on the inside front cover of this issue while the original declaration is shown below for comparison.
The inaugural declaration presented five fundamentals: Humanism is (1) democratic; (2) seeks to use science creatively, not destructively; (3) is ethical; (4) insists that personal liberty is an end that must be combined with social responsibility; and (5) is a way of life. The new declaration reaffirms these original fundamentals with some revisions to order and detail and adds two more fundamentals: Humanism is a response to a widespread demand for an alternative to democratic religion, and values artistic creativity and imagination and recognises the transforming power of art.
The list now reads as follows, with the original order shown for comparison. Humanism:
Ethics has been elevated from third to first place on the list while democracy has fallen from first to third. There may be little significance to this change of order and it could be said that all points of the declaration are equally important and should be read in conjunction with one another, but the impression that is created is that ethics is of paramount importance and all else follows from that. That democracy must be ethical, allowing the greatest possible personal freedom without infringing the rights of others and showing a duty of care for others, and that democracy must be rational, seeking to use science creatively not destructively.
Reflecting on the new declaration and the changes we note the consistency that is demonstrated. The old declaration has withstood the test of 50 years with all of the original fundamentals being reiterated. Humanist's would do well to study this declaration and reflect on why each of the points has been included.
Today, just as fifty years ago, the importance of democracy is stressed.
Open, multiparty, democratic countries, continue to show the best human
rights records and achieve the greatest well being for their citizens.
Countries that abuse human rights and present the greatest threat to world
peace and security continue to be countries dominated by non-democratic
dictators, single party states, and theocratic movements - countries where a
single party political philosophy dominates or states based on a single
religion, that seek to implement personal rule by cult leaders or rule by
theocratic governments.
IBM
The five points embodied in the inaugural declaration of the International Humanist and Ethical Union - 1952.
The fundamentals of modern ethical humanism are as follows:
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