Antihumanism

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Antihumanism is a term coined by Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser against Marxist humanists, which he considered a revisionist movement. It meant a radical opposition to the philosophy of the subject, which Althusser considered was the form of "ideological thought" in force in the Western world for several centuries. This "structural Marxism" doesn't mean, of course, moral opposition to the human being (i.e. simple misanthropy), but a philosophy, based on Marx's thought, which considers "social relations" to be primary over individual consciousness. For example, Althusser opposed himself to John Lewis, stating that it was not "man" who made history, but the "masses", that is, the proletariat. Antihumanism thus is a term meant to signify Althusser's opposition to individualism, which is qualified as an ideology. Note: the following sections do not deal with Althusser's "antihumanist" philosophy.

[edit] Origins

The 20th century saw attitudes about religion change more than in any previous century. This could be attributed to the huge technological strides achieved during this century and also the media for spreading these ideas. Or it could be attributed to the rapid pace of change in all areas of human activity. As a result many people now describe themselves as atheist or agnostic (though, the rate of church attendance in the US climbed from 25 percent to 65 percent between 1870 and 1990^[1]). Also people describe themselves as humanists. Humanism is an active ethical and philosophical approach to life focusing on human solutions to human issues through rational arguments without recourse to a god, gods, sacred texts or religious creeds. Antihumanism is not a hatred of humanism but a system of thought which tries to take a scientific approach to humanism and try to show that humanism may not be entirely universal.