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908 I humanism ► Hume
placate the god and expiate the sins of the people. It was especially com¬ mon among agricultural people (e.g., in the ancient Near East), who sought to guarantee the fertility of the soil. The Aztecs sacrificed thou¬ sands of victims (often slaves or prisoners of war) annually to the sun, and the Incas made human sacrifices on the accession of a ruler. In ancient Egypt and elsewhere in Africa, human sacrifice was connected with ances¬ tor worship, and slaves and servants were killed or buried alive along with dead kings in order to provide service in the afterlife. A similar tradition existed in China. The Celts and Germanic peoples are among the Euro¬ pean peoples who practiced human sacrifice.
humanism In Renaissance Europe, a cultural impulse characterized by a revival of classical letters, an individualistic and critical spirit, and a shift of emphasis from religious to secular concerns. It dates to the 14th century and the poet Petrarch, though earlier figures are sometimes described as humanists. Its diffusion was facilitated by the universal use of Latin and the invention of movable type.
humanistic psychology Twentieth-century movement in psychology, developed largely in reaction against behaviourism and psychoanalysis, that emphasizes the importance of values, intentions, and meaning in the com¬ pass of the individual. The concept of the “self’ is a central focus for most humanistic psychologists. Architects of the humanistic approach included Abraham H. Maslow, Carl R. Rogers, and Rollo May (1909-94). Types of humanistic therapies have included sensory awareness, encoun¬ ter groups, existential analysis, Gestalt therapy, logotherapy, and various transpersonal, human-potential, holistic-health, and addiction-recovery schools.
humanities Branches of knowledge that investigate human beings, their culture, and their self-expression. Distinguished from the physical and biological sciences and, sometimes, from the social sciences, the humanities include the study of languages and literatures, the arts, his¬ tory, and philosophy. The modem conception of the humanities has roots in the classical Greek paideia, a course in general education dating from the 5th century bc that prepared young men for citizenship. It also draws on Cicero’s humanitas , a program of training for orators set forth in 55 bc. The Renaissance humanists contrasted studia humanitatis (“studies of humanity”) with studies of the divine; by the 19th century the distinction was instead drawn between the humanities and the sciences.
Humanities, National Endowment for the See National Endowment for the Humanities
Humber, River ancient Abus River, North Sea inlet, on the eastern coast of England. Originating with the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Trent, it flows generally southward for 75 mi (121 km) over a series of falls and through several lakes and is more than 7 mi (11 km) wide at its mouth. The Humber Bridge, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world (main span 4,626 ft [1,410 m]), was constructed (1981) chiefly to aid the economic development of the river banks, which are lined by sev¬ eral major ports, including Hull.
Humberside Region and former administrative county, eastern
England. It extended along the North Sea coast from Flamborough Head south across the mouth of the River Humber. The Yorkshire Wolds, high rolling plains, rise from white chalk cliffs at Flamborough Head. Prehistoric peoples were followed by Roman settlements, Anglo-Saxons, and Scandinavians. The region’s principal city is Kingston upon Hull.
Humboldt, (Friedrich Wil¬ helm Heinrich) Alexander, Freiherr (baron) von (b. Sept. 14, 1769, Berlin, Prussia—d. May 6, 1859, Berlin) German naturalist and explorer. In 1792 he joined the min¬ ing department of the Prussian gov¬ ernment, where he invented a safety lamp and established a technical school for miners. From 1799 he explored Central and South America, traveling in the Amazon jungles and
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Alexander von Humboldt, oil painting by Friedrich Georg Weitsch, 1806; in the National Museums in Berlin.
COURTESY OF THE STAATUCHE MUSEEN ZU BERLIN
the Andean highlands. During these journeys he discovered the connection between the Amazon and Orinoco river systems and surmised that altitude sickness was caused by lack of oxygen. He studied the oceanic current off the western coast of South America; it became known as the Humboldt Current (now the Peru Current). He returned to Europe in 1804. His research helped lay the foundation for comparative climatology, drew a connection between a region’s geography and its flora and fauna, and added to an understanding of the development of the Earth’s crust. In Paris he used his financial resources to help Louis Agassiz and others launch careers. In 1829 he traveled to Russia and Siberia and made geographic, geologic, and meteorologic observations of Central Asia. During the 1830s he investigated magnetic storms. The last 25 years of his life were spent writing Kosmos, an account of the structure of the universe as then known.
Humboldt, (Karl) Wilhelm, baron von (b. June 22, 1767, Pots¬ dam, Prussia—d. April 8, 1835, Tegel, near Berlin) German linguist and educational reformer. The elder brother of Alexander von Humboldt, he held a number of government posts. As minister of education (1809), he raised elementary education standards and was instrumental in founding Friedrich Wilhelm University (now Humboldt University, or University of Berlin) in Berlin. Humboldt also contributed greatly to the philosophy of language, contending that its character and structure express the speak¬ er’s culture and individuality and that humans perceive the world through the medium of language. He also carried out research on the Basque lan¬ guage and Kawi (old Javanese).
Humboldt River River, northern Nevada, U.S. Rising in Elko county, it flows west and southwest for 290 mi (467 km) to Humboldt Lake (also called Humboldt Sink). Named by John C. Fremont for Alexander von Humboldt, it was an important route for emigrants going from Salt Lake City to the goldfields in central California.
Humboldt University of Berlin See University of Berlin
Hume, David (b. May 7, 1711, Edinburgh, Scot.—d. Aug. 25, 1776, Edinburgh) Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist. He conceived of philosophy as the inductive, experimental science of human nature. His first major work, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40), explains the ori¬ gin of ideas, including the ideas of space, time, and causality, in sense experience; presents an elaborate account of the affective, or emotional, aspects of the mind and assigns a subordinate role to reason in this order (“Reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions”); and describes moral goodness in terms of “feelings” of approval or disap¬ proval that a person has when he considers human behaviour in the light of the agreeable or disagreeable consequences either to himself or to oth¬ ers. The Treatise was poorly received, and late in life Hume repudiated it as juvenile. He revised Book I of the Treatise as An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1758); a revision of Book III was published as An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751). His Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779), containing a refutation of the argu¬ ment from design and a critique of the notion of miracles, was withheld from publication during his lifetime at the urging of friends. From his account of the origin of ideas Hume concluded that we have no knowl¬ edge of a “self’ as the enduring subject of experience; nor do we have knowledge of any “necessary connection” between causally related events. Immanuel Kant, who developed his critical philosophy in direct reaction to Hume, said that Hume had awakened him from his “dogmatic slumbers.” In Britain, Hume’s moral theory influenced Jeremy Bentham to adopt utilitarianism. With John Locke and George Berkeley, Hume is regarded as one of the great philosophers of empiricism.