New Humanism from the Perspective of Lima Vaz's Thought

Abstract

This article discusses the “New Humanism” and presents the idea of man as an ontological and ethical “being of expressiveness” in the thought of Henrique Cláudio de Lima Vaz. The philosopher confronts modern humanism and proposes a new form of human coexistence. His theory unveils the growing process of depersonalization in Brazilian society and the crisis of moral foundation. The objective is to reflect on the foundational, anthropological, and ethical concepts of this New Humanism: Being, Good, Justice, Law, and Human Dignity. His humanist theory is structured on the concept of Person, a being of Subsistence, Relation, and Totality, whose moral freedom is realized in intersubjectivity, through reciprocal recognition, the foundation of the Ethical Community. The article is subdivided into three parts: 1) reflection on the integrality of man as being-in-the-World, Being-with-Others, and Being-for-the-Absolute; 2) reflection on the ontological-ethical principles: Good, Justice, and Law; 3) Reflection on Human Dignity and Education in ethical and moral formation in democratic life. Lima Vaz proposes a personalist and communitarian social model, through the articulation between the principles of Being and Good, and defends a substantive democracy whose legitimacy rests on the unconditional protection of Human Dignity. It is concluded that, in this New Humanism, Dignity operates as the arché and télos principle of social life, establishing itself as an impregnable limit to the power of the State and demanding a paideia that cultivates the ethical responsibility of the citizen.

Keywords: Humanism. Person. Ethics. Democracy. Human Dignity.