Politics 312: Humanism between Europe and its Others

What does it mean to be human? Is it possible to articulate a universal notion of humanity? What are the challenges to doing so? Why should we (or shouldn’t we) attempt to do so? This class responds to these questions in light of a recent political phenomenon: the rise of universal human rights discourse in the aftermath of the Second World War. Articulations of humanism in canonical political theory take European “man” as the center of their analysis. This course considers humanist ideas as they were adopted, engaged, and critiqued by those considered to be—and who considered themselves as—different from European “man.” Our investigation covers three strains of contemporary political thought prevalent among those writing as and/or on behalf of Europe’s “others”: humanism, anti-humanism, and new humanism.