the brights (NY times op-ed)

[Geoffrey Nunberg]

JSTOR has instances of "secular humanism" from the 1938 and 1939, and
one for "secular humanist" from 1935. But these citations all suggest
a purely compositional reading of the phrase -- as, e.g., in "the
love of man for God, foreign alike to Greek moral philososphy and the
secular humanism of the present day." I feel sure that that David is
right as regards the polemical use of the phrase to signify what MW
defines as " humanistic philosophy viewed as a nontheistic religion
antagonistic to traditional religion." That was a much later
invention, though you'd need a lot of context to sort out just when
the shift took place.

Geoff Nunberg


>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Barnhart <ADS-L at HIGHLANDS.COM>
>Subject:      Re: the brights (NY times op-ed)
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU,Net writes:
>>has the history of the phrase "secular humanism" been charted?  who
>>first used the expression, in what context, and how has its use
>>changed over the years?
>
>Dear Arnold (and other listers):
>
>Try checking with MW.  In MW10 the e.q. is 1933 (seems early, RHU has
>1980-85).  The earliest date I have penciled in the margin of BDC (Vol.
>2) is 1976.  Bloomsbury (Green's Neologisms, c. 1991) has an e.q. 1981.
>
>Regards (and keep depending on friends.  They're the best safety net
>there is.)
>
>David
>
>barnhart at barnhart@highlands.com