Humanists’ Hall of Fame

www.humanists.freeserve.co.uk

Over the years many people have contributed to the Humanist tradition, including those listed here.

For more detailed information about those in this Hall of Fame click for an Encyclopaedia Britannica Search on the Home Page Menu.

Asimov, Isaac . 1920-1992. He published more than 400 books including fiction I, Robot (1950) and the Foundation Trilogy (1951-3), continued in Foundations Edge (1983).

Ayer, Sir Alfred . 1910-1989. He was born in London, and attended Eton College and Oxford. He specialised in linguistic analysis. His best known book Language, Truth and Logic was published in 1936 and other works include Foundations of Empirical Knowledge (1940), The Problem of Knowledge (1956) and The Central Questions of Philosophy (1973).

Bentham, Jeremy . 1748-1832. One of the founders of University College, London, which was open to all regardless of belief. He popularised the principles “the greatest happiness of the greatest number” and “everyone to count for one, nobody for more than one”, and made these the criterion for ethics, legislation and social policy.

He called the system “utilitarianism”. To bring about social reform he said we should “investigate, legislate, inspect”.

Berlin, Isaiah . 1909-1997. Born on June 6, 1909, in Riga, Latvia . The family left and in 1920 moved to England. Berlin was a lecturer in philosophy at New College, Oxford, beginning in 1932. During World War II, Berlin worked at the British Information Services office in New York. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was said to have enjoyed reading Berlin’s summaries of United States opinion so much that he invited Berlin to lunch at 10 Downing Street, but the invitation was mistakenly delivered to the composer Irving Berlin. Berlin published his first book, Karl Marx: His Life and Environment, in 1939. Among Berlin’s most important essays were Historical Inevitability (1955), Two Concepts of Liberty (1959), and Four Essays on Liberty (1969). These works are considered Berlin’s finest arguments defending liberty, free will, and pluralism against romantic and utopian philosophical systems.

Bradlaugh, Charles . 1833-1891. He was born at Hoxton, London and at first wrote under the name ‘Iconoclast’. He was successful in much of the litigation following his publications, notably in 1877-8, when he and Mrs. Annie Besant were prosecuted and acquitted for publishing a pamphlet about birth control.

Crick, Francis . 1916-2004. He was born in Northampton and studied physics at University College, London. He established with Maurice Wilkins and James Watson the function and double-helix structure of DNA. He wrote “A good biological theory must try to see through the clutter produced by evolution to the basic mechanisms lying beneath them”. Making sense of the genetic code was an example of this as all the ‘elegant and simple’ theories turned out to be wrong by experimental methods.

Curie, Marie . 1867-1934. By the age of 15 she was an agnostic. She was appointed professor of general physics at the Sorbonne in Paris, and received the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1911. She and her husband Pierre did research into radioactivity in response to the great puzzlement existing at that time about the structure of atoms. She was the first person to win two Nobel prizes.

Dawkins, Richard . 1941-. He is a leading scientist in the field of evolution and has published The Selfish Gene (1976) and The Blind Watchmaker (1988).

Diderot, Denis . 1713-1784. Born at Langres, in Champagne, France, he worked for many years as a bookseller’s hack. He eventually became an atheist, and was imprisoned several times for violating the censorship. He was joint editor of the great Encyclopédie (1751-65). He challenged the concept of absolute truth on the grounds that, as change is a fundamental principle of life, so must truth also be subject to change. He emphasised the complementary roles of observation and reflection, and believed that matter is composed of ‘elements’ divisible into molecules, and that all living species pass though stages of development. His thesis was always to give people knowledge so that they could think for themselves.

Eliot, George . 1819-1880. The pen name of Marian Evans, which she used to help get her work published at a time when it was almost impossible for women to get their writings into print. ‘Helping one another’ and ‘the interdependence of all human beings’ are the threads that ran through her many books. These include Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871-2) and Daniel Deronda (1876).

Einstein, Albert . 1879-1955. In 1914 he became titular professor of physics at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin. The German Nazi government confiscated his property and revoked his citizenship because he was Jewish. In 1940 he became a citizen of the USA. Although a pacifist he urged the American President to investigate the possible use of atomic bombs. He produced his special theory of relativity in 1905 and a general theory of relativity in about 1916.

Epicurus . 341-270 B.C. He defined philosophy as the art of making life happy and subordinated metaphysics to ethics, naming pleasure the highest and only good. Pleasure is not, however, heedless indulgence, but serenity (ataraxia) resulting from the absence of pain. He also prescribed a code of social conduct that advocated honesty, prudence, and justice in dealing with others (because such conduct would save the individual from society’s retribution and also from the pain of the fear of the discovery of wrong doing).

He founded a school in a garden in Athens, which became known as ‘The Garden’ and included women.

His outlook spread throughout the Roman world and he taught that the gods did not create or intervene in the universe, which evolved naturally. Life after death could not exist so there could be no heaven or hell. On the gravestones of followers were written “I was not; I have been; I am not; I do not mind”.

Forster, E(dward) M(organ ). 1879-1970. He brought new depths to the English novel of manners. Among his works are: A Room with a View (1908), Howard’s End (1910), Maurice 1913-4; published 1971) and A passage to India (1924).

Hammon, William . See Matthew Turner below.

Holbach, Paul Henrl Thyry, Baron d'Holbach. (1723-1789). French philosopher, born at Eides-heim in the Palatinate. He spent most of his time in Paris, and, having great wealth and being of hospitable disposition, entertained and was intimate with the most distinguished men of his day, among them, Diderot, Grimm, Hume, Garrick, Wilkes, Sterne, Rousseau. He wrote a large number of articles on chemistry and mineralogy for the ‘Encyclopedie’, and in 1767 published his ‘Christianisme Devoile’, in which he attacks Christianity and religion. In 1770 his famous book, ‘Le Systeme de la Nature’, appeared, and in it be denied the existence of a Deity and asserted that happiness is the purpose of mankind.

Hume, David . 1711-1776. Born in Edinburgh he went in 1734 to France to study philosophy. In his Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748) he sought to develop a science of humanity, and he contended that there is no such science as metaphysics, restricting knowledge to experience and excluding pure reason. In An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1752), he propounds a philosophy with a definite utilitarian note, and his Political Discourse (1752) foreshadowed the free trade ideas of Adam Smith.

Huxley, T(homas) H(enry) . After the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1859 he became known as Darwin’s ‘bulldog’. He coined the word ‘agnosticism’ in 1869. His books Lay Sermons (1870), Science and Culture (1881) and Evolution and Ethics (1893) are expositions scientific Humanism.

Ingersoll, Robert G(reen) . 1833-1899. Born near New York, USA, he became a school teacher but was sacked for making a joke in answer to a question about baptism. In the American civil war he was a colonel in the 11th Illinois Cavalry, and afterwards became a famous lawyer. Because he refused to compromise his principles of non-belief, he was not nominated to run as Governor of the State of Illinois. A contemporary wrote “The tales of his generosity had gone far and wide, and every morning there was a pile of letters on his desk from poor clerks starving in garrets, and young women who could find no means of support. To such appeals he responded so bountifully that they came faster and faster. His friends warned him against the impositions that were practised upon him, and told him he ought to have a bureau of enquiry; but he answered that he would rather be cheated a dozen times than leave one poor girl to suffer, and perhaps die”. In writing about death he said, “if we could live for ever here we would care nothing for each other. The fact that we must die, the fact that the feast must end, brings our souls together ... It may be were it not for death there would be no love, and without love life would be a curse”.

Kurtz, Paul. 1925-. He is professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA, and the author of Forbidden Fruit: The Ethics of Humanism (1988). He founded the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSIOP).

Keynes, Maynard . 1883-1946. In 1919 he represented the British Chancellor of the Exchequer in the peace negotiations in Paris. His writings include: The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), The End of Laissez-Faire (1926) and A Treastise on Money (1929).

Lamont, Corliss . 1902-1995. He graduated from Harvard in 1924 and then studied philosophy. He was director of the American Civil Liberties Union and his books include: Freedom Is As Freedom Does, Freedom of Choice Affirmed (1967), The Illusion of Immortality (1935) and The Philosophy of Humanism (1949-82).

Leakey, Richard . 1944-. He was born in Kenya and discovered a hominoid skull which may represent a transition between Australopithecus and the Homo genera. He published The Making of Mankind (1981).

Lennon, John . 1940-80. A British rock musician-songwriter who was born in Liverpool, England; founder of pop group Quarrymen (which appeared under various names) 1955-62. He founded the Beatles group in 1962 and was group’s lead singer and intellectual until its dissolution in 1970. One of his hit songs is Imagine.

Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) . c.99 - c.55 B.C. His one great poem On the Nature of Things (De rerum natura) expounds the philosophy of Epicurus.

Mill, John Stuart . 1806-1873. He was born in London and he attempted to put Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarian morality into the sphere of political legislation as an MP. He took up the cause of women’s rights and was always a defender of the right of the individual to develop his mode of life in any way that did not harm others. He published On Liberty in 1859 and The Subjection of Women in 1869.

Paine, Thomas . 1737-1809. Born in Thetford, Norfolk he went to Philadelphia and in 1776 issued a pamphlet entitled Common Sense, putting the case for American independence. In 1787 he published in England The Rights of Man as a counterblast to Burke’s Reflections on the French Revolution. Paine was indicted in 1792 but went to France. His Age of Reason criticised the Bible and revealed religion. He died in New York.

Popper, Sir Karl (Raimund) . 1902-1994. He was born in Vienna and was a professor (1949-69) at the London School of Economics. His criticised historicism (the view that there are historical laws) as a tool of totalitarian thought in The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1931) and The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945).

Rayner, Claire . After working as a nurse (she got the Gold Medal for outstanding achievement), she began writing. She has written a wide range of over 80 books. She puts an emphasis on contraception as a vital factor in creating a better future.

Reade, Winwood . 1839-1875. He went to Africa as an explorer in 1862 and was correspondent of The Times. He wrote novels and The Martyrdom of Man (1872) and The Outcast (1875).

Roddenberry, Gene . 1921-1991. He was the creator and executive producer of the television series Star Trek (from 1966) and its sequel Star Trek: The Next Generation. He became an atheist when he was a teenager, and began writing when he was a pilot in World War II. He did not think of Star Trek as science-fiction, but as being about people. Some of the early problems he encountered with the television networks were that he wasn’t allowed to have a woman as the ship’s second-in-command, and against his wishes, early programmes had sexist costumes for women. He had to struggle to keep black officers in the cast. Some Christians wanted a chaplain on board the ship and when a character died for them to have a Christian funeral. His ‘message’ was that to enrich our lives fully, we need to develop the warmth of human emotions as reason and logic are not enough.

Russell, Bertrand . 1872-1970. He was born in Wales and succeeded his father as Earl Russell in 1931. He produced Principles of Mathematics in 1903 with Alfred North Whitehead, and Principia Mathematica in 1910-13. He was convinced of the logical independence of facts and the dependence of knowledge on the data of original experience. He was an active pacifist in World War I, but he abandoned pacifism during World War II, and reverted to it after the war and became leader of the “ban the bomb” movement to halt the manufacture of nuclear weapons. He published Marriage and Morals (1929), A History of Western Philosophy (1945), and in 1957 Why I Am Not a Christian, a lecture given in 1927.

Shelly, Percy Bysshe . 1792-1822. In 1810 he entered Oxford and in 1811 he and a friend published a pamphlet, On the Necessity of Atheism, and were expelled. His poem Queen Mab was published privately in 1813. He advocated social and political reform through the abolition of various institutions. In 1814 he went to France with Mary Godwin, whom he married after his wife’s suicide in 1816. The Revolt of Islam appeared in 1818, and Promethus Unbound in 1820. His poetry shows his belief in reason and the perfectability of humanity. His wife Mary (1797-1851) was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft and wrote Frankenstein (1818).

Smith, Adam . 1723-1790. Born at Kirkcaldy he was educated in Glasgow and at Balliol College, Oxford. He was professor of moral philosophy in Glasgow from 1752-63. His The Wealth of Nations appeared in 1776. It set out a comprehensive moral and social programme, based on the study of market forces and of “the obvious and simple system of natural liberty”. It said general welfare depends on allowing the individual to promote his own interest freely “as long as he does not violate the laws of justice”.

Turner, Matthew . Named as the author, or part author, of the first book in English in which someone declared themselves as being an atheist, as distinct from being called an atheist by others. The declaration was made by William Hammon and the book Answer to Dr. Priestley’s letters to a philosophical unbeliever was published in London in 1782.

Twain, Mark . 1835-1910. Pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Born at Florida, Missouri, USA, he became a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi. He established his reputation with his first book, The Innocents Abroad (1869), and two classic novels, in dialect, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), which used vivid characterisation and descriptions, and, underlying the humour, a theme of man’s inhumanity to man.

Voltaire . 1694-1791. The adopted named of François Marie Aroute. He was the son of a notary and born in Paris. He was imprisoned for his outspoken views and he spent a great deal of his life fighting intolerance. He first made his mark as a dramatist with Oedipe (1718). His other writings include Dialogues on Philosophy. His book Candide (1759) is a satire on the idea that this is the best of all possible worlds.

Wells, H(erbert) G(eorge) . 1866-1946. Having taught biology, he wrote fantastic and science-fiction novels like The Time Machine (1895) and The War of the Worlds (1898) and The Shape of Things to Come (1933). He turned to realism with Kipps (1905) and Outline of History (1920).

Wilson, Angus . 1913-1991. (the pen-name of Frank Johnstone). His books depict a corrupt society in both public and domestic life. They include Anglo-Saxon Attitudes (1956) and Hemlock and After (1952).

Wollstonecraft, Mary . 1759-1797. After publishing Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), she lived in Paris. She married William Godwin (1797) and died giving birth to a daughter, Mary, who married Percy Bysshe Shelley.

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