HUMANISM, in general any system of thought or action which assigns a predominant interest to the affairs of men as compared with the supernatural or the abstract (from Lat. hu manus, human, connected with homo, mankind). The term is specially applied to that movement of thought which in western Europe in the I5th century broke through the mediaeval traditions of scholastic theology and philosophy, and devoted itself to the rediscovery and direct study of the ancient classics. This move ment was essentially a revolt against intellectual, and especially ecclesiastical authority, and is the parent of all modern develop ments whether intellectual, scientific or social (see RENAISSANCE).
The name has also been applied in recent years to a form of Pragmatism (q.v.) which is usually known on the European continent as Hominism (q.v.).