"Humanism" by Richard Sennett Analysis

"In a world filled with mobile people- economic immigrants and political exiles in particular-
an old humanist ideal might help them to give shape to their lives" (Sennett 244).
Image credit to Humanists of Greater Portland

Richard Sennett is a professor of humanities at New York University and a professor of sociology at the London School of Economics. He mentions his famous studies of the modern workplace in his essay “Humanism”, which seem to the basis for his concern about how people are no longer enriching their own life experience, preferring to passively put up with whatever comes their way. Sennett states his purpose on the very first page of the essay: he wants to argue that displacement and bad luck can be dealt with by following the humanist philosophy of finding coherency in conflicting things and taking control of one’s own life. This is what he calls having a “voice”.

To convince his readers to adopt this philosophy, Sennett includes many examples that explain it. For instance, he writes about the philosophers Baruch Spinoza and Pico della Mirandola; they were exiled from their native lands, but even during their unhappy periods they were able to speculate on how man must carve his own path, even though they both believed that man was created by God. Another rhetorical device he uses is comparison, which helps the reader to connect the various pieces of Sennett’s argument and see what humanism means today. When talking about modern tendency to switch between jobs every few years and never find a career, Sennett writes, “These precepts reflect, if they do not precisely mirror, Pico’s understanding of Man as his own Maker…. The human subject should stand apart from his or her circumstances emotionally and intellectually….” (Sennett 248). He also sprinkles a bit of symbolism throughout the essay to show readers how much people are ignoring humanism in seemingly-small ways today. One way in which he does this is writing about email and its speed, lamenting the loss of careful consideration of diction and tone that characterized letter writing in previous decades. This, he claims, is yet another form of the loss of “voice”. 

While Sennett’s essay seems targeted towards anyone curious about the topic and its modern implications, it would be best read by those who are already familiar with humanism, perhaps teachers or college students. However, his basic message, that people should stand up for themselves and take charge of their lives, is very clear and is carried throughout the essay, so he accomplished his purpose very well.