The Humanists

Despite the problems, humanists perform several critical functions. They
- remind the society of its contradictions,
- articulate salient emotional states,
- detect changing cultural premises,
- confront their culture’s deepest moral dilemmas,
- and document the unpredictable events that punctuate a life or historical era.
The books, poems, plays, and films that contain these ideas help the public find a balance between the benevolent and self-destructive consequences of their illusions so that hopefully each can create an ideal worthy of effort.
-- The Three Cultures: Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and the Humanities in the 21st Century by Jerome Kagan