Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope

 
　　人文主義包含了對人性、文化、道德責任的關懷，人文的世界觀，啟發了數個世紀以來的人們，在自由思考、對智性的追求、共感和樂觀主義的原則下做出自己的決定。
 
　　貝克威爾引領讀者踏上這趟偉大的旅程，從克里斯蒂娜．德．皮桑到羅素，從伏爾泰到柔拉．涅爾．賀絲頓，貝克威爾將眾多傑出的人文主義者一次帶到讀者眼前，透過了解這些人關注的不同面向，將人文主義的全貌呈現在這部作品中。本書不僅探問人文主義究竟為何，更探索為何即使受到極端分子、神祕主義者、獨裁者的反對，它仍擁有如此深遠的影響力。

　　在這個世界如此分裂的年代，我們或許對人性與未來感到失望，這部迷人的作品呼喚我們不放棄自由思考、追求智性與懷抱希望，並勿忘對彼此付出關懷，畢竟，「歷史和人類世界並非穩定而美好，同時也不是完全無望的悲劇。它們是『我們的產物』，如果我們希望它能往好的方向發展，就必須盡力實現這個願景。」(文/博客來編譯)

The New York Times bestseller - One of Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2023 - A New York Times Notable Book

＂A book of big and bold ideas, Humanly Possible is humane in approach and, more important, readable and worth reading. . . Bakewell is wide-ranging, witty and compassionate.＂ -Wall Street Journal

＂Sweeping . . . linking philosophical reflections with vibrant anecdotes.＂ -- The New York Times

The bestselling author of How to Live and At the Existentialist Café explores seven hundred years of writers, thinkers, scientists, and artists, all seeking to understand what it means to be truly human

Humanism is an expansive tradition of thought that places shared humanity, cultural vibrancy, and moral responsibility at the center of our lives. For centuries, this worldview has inspired people to make their choices by principles of freethinking, intellectual inquiry, fellow feeling, and optimism. In this sweeping new history, Sarah Bakewell, herself a lifelong humanist, illuminates the very personal, individual, and, well, human matter of humanism and takes readers on a grand intellectual adventure.

Voyaging from the literary enthusiasts of the fourteenth century to the secular campaigners of our own time, from Voltaire to Zora Neale Hurston, Bakewell brings together extraordinary humanists across history. She explores their immense variety: some sought to promote scientific and rationalist ideas, others put more emphasis on moral living, and still others were concerned with the cultural and literary studies known as ＂the humanities.＂ Humanly Possible asks not only what unites all these meanings of humanism but why it has such enduring power, despite opposition from fanatics, mystics, and tyrants. A singular examination of this vital tradition as well as a dazzling contribution to its literature, Humanly Possible serves as a recentering, a call to care for one another, and a reminder that we are all, together, only human.

Sarah Bakewell had a wandering childhood in Europe, Australia and England. After studying at the University of Essex, she was a curator of early printed books at Wellcome Library before becoming a full-time writer. Her book on Michel de Montaigne, How to Live, won numerous awards and became a runaway bestseller in the UK. Bakewell lives in London, where she teaches creative writing at City University and catalogues rare book collections for the National Trust.