@HUMANISMEDU - FOLLOW US FOR UPDATESMeaning and happiness
‘Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to make others so.’
Robert Ingersoll, ‘The Great Agnostic’ (1833 – 1899)
Does life have any meaning? Is happiness the most important thing in life? What is ‘the good life’? Find out why humanists believe we must create our own meanings in life, and why, if this is the only life we have, humanists place such importance on making ourselves and others happy.
Here you can find resources about how humanists believe we can find happiness and make our lives meaningful, and why they believe there is more than one answer to the question about how to live a worthwhile life.
How can I be happy?
Suitable for: 5-7
Lesson Plans
How can I be happy?
In this lesson students will investigate what makes human beings happy. They will be introduced to the Happy Human, a symbol of Humanism, and learn why happiness is so important to humanists. By ordering and categorising different possible ingredients of happiness, they will investigate the different ways people can find happiness and whether happiness means the same thing to everybody. They will learn how humanists believe that it is important for everyone to find their own way to be happy and that one of the best ways to be happy is to make other people so. Finally, they will decorate a Happy Human with what they think are the ingredients of happiness DownloadActivities
Ingredients of happiness (5-7)
Can students order and evaluate these different potential ingredients of happiness? DownloadHappy Human outline
Fill the Happy Human with the ingredients of happiness. DownloadFilms
How can I be happy?
(Age 11+) A short animation about how humanists believe we need to find our own ways to make our lives meaningful, and that we should make the most of the one life we know we have. WatchHumanist Perspectives
Happiness
What is the Happy Human and what does it represent? How do humanists think we can all be happy? DownloadWhy is happiness important to humanists?
Suitable for: 11-14, 7-11
Lesson Plans
Why is happiness important to humanists?
In this lesson students will investigate how humanists think we can find happiness in our lives, and why, because they believe life is finite, happiness is so important to humanists. Through evaluating and categorising different possible ingredients of happiness, they will investigate the different ways people can find happiness, ask whether happiness means the same thing to everybody. They will learn how humanists believe that it is important for everyone to find their own way to be happy and learn that humanists believe one of the best ways to be happy is to make other people so. Finally, they will use what they have learned to write their own recipe for happiness. DownloadActivities
Ingredients of happiness (7-14)
Can students order and evaluate these potential ingredients of happiness, and conclude whether everyone needs the same things to make them happy. DownloadHappiness recipe
An example recipe for happiness to stimulate students to write their own. DownloadHumanist responses: happiness
Can students fill in the speech bubbles with humanist responses to statements and questions about happiness? DownloadThe 'Why?' game
An activity to help students explore whether our own happiness is the motivation behind everything we do? DownloadFilms
How can I be happy?
(Age 11+) A short animation about how humanists believe we need to find our own ways to make our lives meaningful, and that we should make the most of the one life we know we have. WatchHumanist Perspectives
Happiness
What is the Happy Human and what does it represent? How do humanists think we can all be happy? DownloadDoes death make life more meaningful?
Suitable for: 11-14, 14-16
Lesson Plans
Does death make life more meaningful?
In this lesson students will investigate humanist attitudes towards death, including the consequences of their absence of belief in an afterlife on the way they live their lives. They will explore whether we should be scared of death and learn how humanists believe that the absence of an afterlife makes life more meaningful, and makes it all the more important to make the most of the one life we know we have. They will also discuss the different senses in which humanists believe something of us does survive our death. Finally they will learn what happens at a humanist funeral and use what they have learned to write their own poem or eulogy. DownloadActivities
Death metaphors
If death were a ......., what would it be? DownloadHumanist funeral extracts
Can students find key humanist attitudes towards death in a selection of statements from humanist funerals? DownloadHumanist poems
A selection of humanist poems and quotes about death to inspire students to write their own poem or eulogy for a funeral. DownloadHumanist responses: death
Fill in the speech bubbles with how humanists might respond to statements and questions about death. DownloadThe River of Life
Using Bertrand Russell's quote comparing human lives to rivers, students explore what they might contribute to the sea of humanity DownloadDoes life have any meaning?
Suitable for: 11-14, 14-16
Lesson Plans
Does life have any meaning?
In this lesson students will investigate why humanists think there is no reason to believe there is a hidden, external, ‘ultimate’ meaning to life and instead believe meaning is something we create for ourselves. They will explore and evaluate different possible ingredients of ‘the good life’, investigate how we can make our own lives meaningful, and appraise different humanists’ views. Finally they will write a letter to their future selves explaining what they think makes a meaningful life. DownloadActivities
Ingredients of the good life
Can students order and evaluate these potential ingredients of 'the good life' and conclude whether what makes a meaningful life is the same for everyone? DownloadHumanist quotes on meaning in life
A collection of humanist quotes about meaning in life for students to evaluate and compare and contrast to religious attitudes to meaning. DownloadMeaning in life: criticisms and responses
How might humanists respond to these criticisms of their beliefs about meaning in life? DownloadWhat is the good life?
Questions to help students write letters to their future selves describing how they hope they will have made their lives meaningful. DownloadHumanist responses: meaning
Can students fill in the speech bubbles with humanist responses to statements and questions about meaning in life? DownloadFilms
What are the ingredients of the good life?
(Age 7+) Humanists describe how they think human beings can lead happy, worthwhile, and meaningful lives. WatchHow can I be happy?
(Age 11+) A short animation about how humanists believe we need to find our own ways to make our lives meaningful, and that we should make the most of the one life we know we have. WatchOther Resources
Happy Human 50th Birthday
A website celebrating 50 years of the Happy Human symbol, featuring information about its origins, its history, and its presence around the world.
Life without meaning?
Humanist philosopher Richard Norman explores questions around meaning and purpose in life from a humanist perspective (from the Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Humanism)
DownloadLiving Well
E-book: A guide to the humanist vision of the good life
Humanist Perspectives
Happiness
What is the Happy Human and what does it represent? How do humanists think we can all be happy?
DownloadExternal Resources
Cultural transmission
Cultural transmission: A BBC animation on what makes us human: our capacity to share ideas, skills, and culture (for humanists this makes us special and can enable something of us to survive our deaths)
Sartre: Existence precedes essence
Sartre: Existence precedes essence: A BBC animation on Sartre’s belief that human beings are free to make create themselves through what they do and the responsibility this places upon us
What meanings to life can be found?
What meanings to life can be found?: A short film featuring twelve perspectives on meaning in life.