I try to write this Substack newsletter inclusively of a variety of “heart” humanisms. That includes Ethical Culture (sometimes called Ethical Humanism). I originally wrote this article about 20 years ago and have revised and updated it.
Some members might see the two as the same, but I don’t see Ethical Culture as exactly the same as humanism. The AEU (American Ethical Union, the association of Ethical Societies) officially described itself in the 1960s into the 2000s as humanistic rather than humanist and has, both during and after that time, positioned itself in the wider circle of humanism. Ethical Culture is certainly aligned with and related to humanist organizations. It would be a mistake simply to equate Ethical Culture to humanism.
Ethical Culture existed before modern humanism began to use that name. The founder of Ethical Culture, Felix Adler, was not a humanist and was uncomfortable with humanism as a philosophy or metaphysics. In fact, many who join do so because they’re in a religiously mixed family, and sometimes part of that mixture is humanist, and other parts are not.
Many Ethical Culture members, including most professional Leaders, today also consider themselves humanists. But there is no requirement that a leader or member in an Ethical Society be a humanist, and many do not consider themselves to be.
Ethical Culture members helped to found the International Humanist and Ethical Union where Ethical Culture and humanist groups work together towards shared values and goals. That organization has renamed itself, and removed the “Ethical” part, mostly because those of us who identify as Ethical Culture or Ethical Humanism within that organization are so few.
Sometimes the term Ethical Humanism is used as an equivalent of Ethical Culture, but not all members or Leaders use the terms interchangeably. Some Societies use the term Ethical Humanist in their titles, but most have not made that choice.
And of course, there are many humanists who don’t belong to any Ethical Culture or Ethical Humanist Society. Ethical Culture tends to focus more on action instead of beliefs. Most Ethical Societies have significant theological diversity but do not make that diversity-of-thought the focus.
I think of Unitarian minister John Dietrich’s definition of humanism as “human responsibility for human problems.” In this broad sense, Ethical Culture and Ethical Humanism are certainly humanist or humanistic (focused on human responsibility). In more narrow senses of humanism (and that’s the subject of other essays on this site) it would be misleading to equate Ethical Culture Societies and humanist groups. Many who call themselves humanists seek a community where no one is any variety of theist, and everyone identifies as a humanist.
And I say all this as a third-generation humanist, happy to see humanism evolve through those lifetimes to value liberation AND responsibility. And to join with others who may not identify with humanism and/or Ethical Culture/Humanism who share basic values, in working to create and sustain a more humane world.