Agnostic.com

5 4

Paul Kurtz listed what he called “Ethical Excellences” that every person should acquire and cultivate:
• First is the excellence of autonomy or what Emerson called self-reliance. This means a person’s ability to take control of his or her own destiny. Such a person is self-directed and self-governed.
• Second, intelligence and reason rate high on the scale of values…. We need to develop our cognitive skills and good judgement…
• Third is the need for some self-discipline within the domain of passions and feelings… recognizing the harmful consequences that imprudent choices may have…
• Fourth, some self-respect is vital to psychological balance… A person needs to develop some appreciation for who he or she is and a realistic sense of one’s own identitiy. Confidence that one can succeed is essential.
• Fifth, Creativity, the fountainhead of innovation and invention, the boundless spirit of novelty and discovery. We can add to the sum of bountiful joys … only if we dare to do so.
• Sixth, We need to develop high motivation to seize the opportunities in life, to undertake new departures in thought, experience, and action.
• Seventh, Having an affirmative and positive attitude toward life, … the motivation to express our potentialities and capture opportunities…
• Eigth, An affirmative person has joie de vivre, a willingness to experience life to the fullest.
• Ninth, Having and maintaining good health is a precondition of everything else.
• Tenth, All these excellences clearly point to the goodness of life; The end, purpose and goal of life is to live fully and creatively, making each moment of beauty and brilliance count (?!). Recognizing the love for the beauty and goodness in every person (?!). Living affirmatively with joy is the birthright of all humanity, not just those serving a diety…("What is Secular Humanism" )(and paraphrased from "How to Live a Good Life"-M. Pigliucci.)

(Not too sure about that last one. Quite a few have gone over the cliff and on their way down. Practical reclamation appears illegal)

racocn8 9 Dec 1
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

5 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

2

Paul Kurtz was pretty much my introduction to humanism. Was always a treat to attend events with him. Good man in every way.

3

All lofty ideals.

However, I generally have a problem with anyone's ideas of how I should live my life.

3

Looks good on paper.

2

It looks very good written down. You must be young, or had a very sheltered life.
Anyway, its a good start to go on the journey of life, but don't be dissapointed in yourself if you can't always live up to those goals.

3

Good luck with that. Big problem is most have not been brought up or live such a perfect life that they can attain such lofty goals. No. 1 is laudable if it weren't for that pesky item called life and luck. As least Maslow had a pyramid that depicted levels people could rise to if they were able to actually live such a life as Mr. Kurtz theorized.

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:557319
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.