Humanism, Secular. Humanism focuses on the values and interests of human beings. There are Christian forms (see Lewis, C. S.) and non-Christian forms. Secular humanism is the dominant form of the latter. Its confession is that “Man is the measure of all things.” Rather than being focused on human beings, its philosophy is based on human values.
Secular humanists comprise a diverse group. They include existentialists (see Sartre, Jean-Paul), Marxists (see Marx, Karl), pragmatists (see Dewey, John), and egocentrists (see Rand, Ayn), and behaviorists (see B. F. Skinner under Determinism). While all humanists believe in some form of evolution (see Evolution, Biological; Evolution, Chemical), Julian Huxley called his view “the religion of evolutionary humanism.” Corliss Lamont could be called a “cultural humanist.” Differences notwithstanding, non-Christian humanists share a core of beliefs. These have been summarized in two “humanist manifestos” and represent a coalition of various secular humanist viewpoints.
Geisler, N. L. (1999). In Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics (p. 335). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.