the brights (NY times op-ed)

[Barnhart]

An instance of _secular "humanism"_ (in JSTOR, 1942) is accompanied by
another term _moralistic _"Puritanism_".

Regards,
David

barnhart at highlands.com

nunberg at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU,Net writes:
>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
>>-----------------------
>>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
>
>