We’re often asked about the origins of organised humanism, and so, following on from our previous article, we thought it helpful to dive a little deeper into the history of the ethical societies, the precursors of modern humanist organisations.
Before the word ‘humanist’ was widely used, people were coming together to live good lives based on reason and compassion, without the need for religious beliefs. Many were members of groups known as ethical societies, and these were the forerunners of modern humanist groups. They believed in living a good life, supporting each other, and working to create a better world.
Origins
The movement began in America, with the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Founded by Felix Adler in 1876, its motto was ‘Not by the creed but by the deed’, staking the claim that how people acted was more important than what they believed. Adler wanted to bring people together who did not want to be told what to think, but wanted to collaborate to do good.
Author of The Black Practice of Disbelief, Anthony Pinn, describes the early ethical movement as one that brought people together – ‘[an] organization that values fellowship and possesses a sense of wonder and awe – all grounded in the workings of the world with no theological attention of the divine.’
Inspired by Adler’s work, another American, Stanton Coit, brought these ideas to the UK. The first ethical society in the UK was the London Ethical Society, founded in 1886, and over the next decade, more societies sprang up across the country, including in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Several of these groups joined forces in 1896 to form the Union of Ethical Societies. Its focus was on the promotion and practice of morality without reference to theological ideas, emphasising a ‘purely natural and human’ basis for ethics and action.
In its own words, the original aims of the Union of Ethical Societies were…
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Over 70 individual ethical societies would be involved with the Union during its history and over time it would change its name to the Ethical Union, then the British Humanist Association in 1967 and, in 2017, Humanists UK (see below for a flowchart illustrating the organisation’s evolution).
A global movement for change
The ethical movement wasn’t just confined to the US and UK. Societies were formed across Europe, in New Zealand, and even Japan. In 1896, the International Ethical Union was established to unite many of these groups, holding its first conference in Zurich. Following the Second World War, in 1952 a new international body was formed in Amsterdam called the International Humanist and Ethical Union, which from 2019 has been known as Humanists International. Today, Humanists International is made up of a variety of non-religious organisations of different labels (humanist, atheist, ethicist, rationalist, secularist, freethinkers) but with shared values and goals.
Members of these societies were often at the forefront of social change. Felix Adler campaigned against child labour, while Stanton Coit worked to alleviate poverty. Zona Vallance, the first secretary of the Union of Ethical Societies, was a tireless advocate for women’s suffrage. The Ethical Societies were also responsible for major efforts to foster understanding between different countries, improve moral education in schools, and change laws they thought were cruel or unjust. The movement organised the First Universal Races Congress in 1911, a landmark event that brought people from around the world together to challenge racist ideas and promote understanding.
Embracing the name ‘humanist’
Some described the early movement as an ‘ethical religion’ or a ‘religion of ethics’ (in a similar way to that of other proponents of naturalistic approaches to life who had labelled their worldview as a ‘religion of nature’ or a ‘religion of humanity’). The use of the term ‘religion’ to describe the burgeoning humanist movement has always been a matter of debate. Felix Adler felt that in its ‘broader sense religion means zealousness and devotion to something supreme’ – a standpoint alien to the ethical outlook. Later leaders of the ethical societies sought to redefine ‘religion’ to suit their secular moral movement. In the case of some, religion merely meant the pursuit of the ‘good’ and ‘true’, quite distinct from any notions of a god or any ritual practice. Others, however, simply felt the word was best avoided and over time it disappeared from the branding.
The beliefs of the ethical societies were inherently humanist, even before they adopted the name. Their members believed we didn’t need religious beliefs to live a good life, and that we could use science and empathy to understand the world around us and decide what’s right and wrong. These core values of the movement have remained through its transition in name from ethicism to humanism.
By the 1940s individuals within these societies were using the word ‘humanist’ to describe themselves. They felt it captured their focus on the potential and responsibilities of human beings. In 1956, when a magazine of the movement renamed itself The Humanist, the scientist Julian Huxley celebrated the way the word highlighted all ‘essential human attributes and values — morality as well as science, art as well as reason.’ By 1967 the Ethical Union had become the British Humanist Association and is now Humanists UK.
Today, although ethical societies still exist around the world, there is only one remaining in the UK: the Conway Hall Ethical Society, in London. Previously known as the South Place Ethical Society, it was renamed to honour the London home built especially for the society in 1929, itself named for the freethinker and abolitionist Moncure Conway. Its library is the largest and most comprehensive humanist research resource of its kind in the UK – a living link to the movement’s rich history.
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