Module 6

What is the "modern deal" Harari describes?

It’s the trade of meaning for power—humans give up belief in a divine plan to gain power through reason, science, and human-centered worldviews.

What is humanism?

A worldview where human feelings and experiences are the ultimate source of meaning and authority, rather than gods or scriptures.

How did Enlightenment thinkers view authority and knowledge?

They believed in reason, science, and empirical evidence, and challenged the divine right of kings, proposing popular sovereignty—that political power comes from the people.

What is the humanist motto in ethics?

“If it feels good – do it.” Ethics become rooted in personal feelings, not religious rules.

What is the humanist motto in politics?

“The voter knows best.” Political legitimacy comes from individual voters, not divine or hereditary authority.

What Enlightenment values inspired the Atlantic Revolutions?

Liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty. These revolutions aimed to replace monarchies with governments based on the will of the people.

What are the three main branches of humanism Harari outlines?

Liberal Humanism: Focuses on individual autonomy and inner truth.

Socialist Humanism: Emphasizes collective experience and social solidarity.

Evolutionary Humanism: Embraces struggle, hierarchy, and natural selection.

How did Enlightenment ideas influence the American Revolution?

Colonists believed in natural rights and used Enlightenment arguments to justify independence, creating a republic based on the idea that governments must derive their power from the consent of the governed.

What is the difference between liberal and socialist humanism?

Liberal humanism prioritizes individual freedom, while socialist humanism focuses on collective equality and institutions that serve the common good.

What did the French Declaration of the Rights of Man proclaim?

That all men are born free and equal, with rights to liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. It was rooted in Enlightenment thought.

What was revolutionary about the Haitian Revolution?

It was the only successful slave revolt in history, establishing Haiti as the second independent republic and challenging Enlightenment hypocrisy about slavery and race.

How does Evolutionary Humanism differ from the other branches?

It views life as a struggle between higher and lower beings, justifying inequality. This ideology influenced Nazism and other exclusionary nationalisms.

How did nationalism grow out of the Atlantic Revolutions?

People began identifying with nations rather than monarchs or religions, leading to unification movements (like in Germany and Italy) and resistance to imperial rule.

What Enlightenment idea did John Locke promote?

That governments exist by contract with the people, who have natural rights to life, liberty, and property—and the right to overthrow unjust rulers.

How did Harari describe the role of therapists vs. priests in modern societies?

Therapists ask how you feel; priests told you what’s right or wrong based on scripture. This shift reflects the humanist emphasis on subjective experience.

What challenges did Enlightenment ideas face in practice?

Despite ideals of equality, revolutions often excluded women, slaves, and people of color from political rights, prompting later reform movements.

What was Olympe de Gouges' contribution to the French Revolution?

She wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman, demanding political equality, but was executed—highlighting the limits of revolutionary ideals for women.

How does Harari explain the role of emotions in humanist politics and economics?

He says feelings now drive choices—voters decide governments, customers shape markets, and morality is judged emotionally, not theologically.

How did industrialization connect to Enlightenment and humanist ideals?

It was seen as progress—a way to harness nature, improve life, and empower humans, aligning with Enlightenment faith in reason and mastery over nature.

What tension exists within humanist ethics?

If everyone’s feelings matter, what happens when one person’s joy causes another’s suffering? Humanism struggles to resolve such conflicts.

How did the abolition of slavery reflect Enlightenment values?

Thinkers and activists, inspired by Enlightenment ideas of natural rights, pushed for the end of the slave trade and later, emancipation.

How does Harari critique the future of humanism?

He warns that with AI and biotechnology, machines might understand humans better than we do—threatening the very idea that humans are the center of meanin