Rationalist, ethical, secular: the late nineteenth century saw the formation of various organised non-religious groups applying these labels to themselves. But who were they and how were they connected? We’ll try to join the dots to provide a picture of what links these different movements and how they contributed to modern humanism.
The rationalists: seeking knowledge and sharing ideas
The rationalists believed that reason provides the best means of discovering truth. They were critical of ‘unquestionable’ religious claims and aimed to educate people about scientific ways of understanding the world. Believing in the value of sharing and challenging ideas, they recognised that the pursuit of knowledge was an ongoing quest.
The Rationalist Press Association was founded by radical publisher Charles Albert Watts in 1885. It published a range of pamphlets and cheap reprints of classic texts from science and philosophy, including the works of Charles Darwin and John Stuart Mill. At only sixpence a volume, this made available non-religious explanations for life and approaches to morality to many ordinary working people. The organisation was also the publisher of New Humanist magazine.
In 2002 the Rationalist Press Association changed its name to the Rationalist Association and in 2025 it merged with Humanists UK.
The ethicists: being good and finding community
The first ethical culture organisation was founded in New York by Felix Adler in 1876. However, soon after, similar organisations began to appear in the UK, and in 1896 they became the Union of Ethical Societies. Adler advocated ‘deed not creed’. By that, he meant what was important was what you did, not what you believed. Those in the ethical culture movement wanted to unite people of all beliefs in working together for good, believing it was possible to be ‘good without god’, and that human beings could use reason and empathy to work out how to treat one another. Early members of such groups argued for moral (rather than religious) education in schools. They campaigned for international peace, challenged racism, and fought for equality and votes for women. Community was also important to ethicists. In 1929 Conway Hall opened in London as a home for the South Place Ethical Society and became a space for non-religious people to come together and celebrate through music and the arts.
The Union of Ethical Societies would become the Ethical Union, then later the British Humanist Association, and, in 2017, Humanist UK.
The secularists: speaking up and taking action
George Jacob Holyoake’s original definition of ‘secularism’ was ‘a code of duty pertaining to this life, founded on considerations purely human’ (an outlook close in meaning to modern humanism). Secularism today, however, typically refers to a stance on how society should be organised in relation to religion or belief: a position which states that no single religious or non-religious worldview should have any privileged powers over the state and that everybody should have freedom of religion or belief. These were the grounds on which many of the early secularists (a largely working-class movement) challenged the power of the established Church.
The National Secular Society was formed in 1866, and its members, alongside other secularists, promoted individual freedoms and challenged discrimination against the non-religious. Acknowledging that instigating change requires speaking up, their approach was to take action through political campaigning and protest. They fought for free speech, and for the removal of laws against blasphemy or criticism of religion; pushed for reform of parliament and public broadcasting to remove religious privileges; and argued for the rights of women to birth control and divorce.
Connections and collaboration
In reality, the differences between these three types of organisation can’t be so neatly divided up. Their activity often crossed over and sometimes they collaborated. From 1950-1963, the Ethical Union, the Rationalist Press Association, and the National Secular Society came together to form the Humanist Council. While this union did not last, the organisations continued to share many goals, and the Rationalist Association and Humanists UK would come together again, merging in 2025.
Humanists
These three outlooks, rationalism, ethicism, and secularism, represent core features of the modern humanist approach to life. One might think of them as the head, the heart, and the hands of humanism. Humanism is a worldview that places value on reason, empathy, and taking action. Humanists today support the scientific endeavour, promote kindness and altruism, and work for human rights and freedoms. They believe this approach is the best way to support people to lead full and flourishing lives in the here and now.
Resources
See also ‘Humanism’: a history of the word
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