Meaning and functions of humanism

The article deals with the concept of "humanism" and its content, analyzes the debatable interpretation of humanism. We also have considered the threefold interpretation of the concept of "human", which determines different understanding of his nature. The most common definitions are biosocial and biospiritual. However, the most general definition of a human, unifying his threefold interpretation, is the following: a being having biospiritual and social nature as a manifestation of his duality. Based on the definition of humanism, we have disclosed the concept of a human, which determines consumerism and competition as corresponding ways of being. As a result this way of being forms destructive moral qualities in a person, which leads to his dehumanization. Hence, humanism as the ideology of capitalism frees a person from social and spiritual alienation, but involves him in material alienation.