Humanism in the 21st Century

From Modern Hybris to Postmodern Phronesis

Abstract

This article begins by questioning the value and currency of humanism in our time. More than an anti-humanism perspective, it presents an approach to critical humanism takes into account the limits of humanism in general. Thus, it focuses on a critical characterization of modernity and its teleologicalprogressive conception of history. Citing certain contemporary thinkers, such as Jean-Luc Nancy, the essay elucidates what we call an ontological existentialism, the framework from which we take up the topic of community (i.e., co-existence) and the question of the sacred and the status of religion in our days. Along the way, we touch upon some areas of recent philosophical renewal, including the being of nature, the difference between the sexes, cultural pluralism, pluralist cosmopolitanism and the meaning and scope of rationality.