title: Humanism

text: According to the International Humanist and Ethical Union: "Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality".


title: Humanism

text: Dictionaries define humanism as a worldview or philosophical stance. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, humanism is " ... a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values; especially: a philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual's dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason".


title: Humanism

text: Traces of humanism can be found in ancient Greek philosophy. Pre-Socratic philosophers were the first Western philosophers to attempt to explain the world in terms of human reason and natural law without relying on myth, tradition, or religion. Protagoras, who lived in Athens , put forward some fundamental humanist ideas, although only fragments of his work survive. He made one of the first agnostic statements; according to one fragment: "About the gods I am able to know neither that they exist nor that they do not exist nor of what kind they are in form: for many things prevent me for knowing this, its obscurity and the brevity of man's life". (80B4 DK) Socrates spoke of the need to "know thyself"; his thought changed the focus of then-contemporary philosophy from nature to humans and their well-being. Socrates, a theist who was executed for atheism, investigated the nature of morality by reasoning. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) taught rationalism and a system of ethics based on human nature that also parallels humanist thought. In the 3rd century BCE, Epicurus developed an influential human-centered philosophy that focused on achieving eudaimonia. Epicureans continued Democritus' atomist theory—a materialistic theory that suggests the fundamental unit of the universe was an indivisible atom. Human happiness, living well, friendship, and the avoidance of excesses were the key ingredients of Epicurean philosophy that flourished in and beyond the post-Hellenic world. It is a repeated view among scholars that the humanistic features of ancient Greek thought are the roots of humanism two thousand years later.


title: Humanism

text: Arabic translations of Ancient Greek literature during the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th and 9th centuries influenced philosophers in Islam. Many medieval Muslim thinkers pursued humanistic, rational, and scientific discourse in their search for knowledge, meaning, and values. A wide range of Islamic writings on love, poetry, history, and philosophical theology show medieval Islamic thought was open to the humanistic ideas of individualism, occasional secularism, skepticism, liberalism, and free speech; schools were established at Baghdad, Basra and Isfahan.


title: Humanism

text: The intellectual movement later known as "renaissance humanism" first appeared in Italy. This movement has greatly influenced western culture up until the modern day. Renaissance humanism emerged in Italy alongside a renewed interest in literature and the arts in the thirteenth century Italy. Italian scholars discovered Ancient Greek thought, particularly that of Aristotle, through Arabic translations from Africa and Spain. Other centers were Verona, Naples, and Avignon. Petrarch, who is often referred to as the father of humanism, is a significant figure. Petrarch was raised in Avignon; he was inclined toward education at a very early age and studied alongside his father, who was also well educated. Petrarch's enthusiasm for ancient texts led him to discover manuscripts that were influential in the development of the Renaissance, such as Cicero's "Pro Archia" and Pomponius Mela's "De chorographia". Petrarch wrote Latin poems such as "Canzoniere" and "De viris illustribus" in which he described humanist ideas. His most significant contribution was a list of books he created, outlining the four major disciplines (rhetoric, moral philosophy, poetry, and grammar) that would become the base of humanistic studies ("studia humanitatis"). His list relied heavily on ancient writers, especially Cicero.


title: Humanism

text: The revival of classicist authors continued after Petrarch's death. Florence chancellor and humanist Coluccio Salutati made his city a prominent center of renaissance humanism. His circle included other notable humanists, most notable, Leonardo Bruni, who rediscovered, translated and popularized ancient texts. Humanists heavily influenced education. Vittorino da Feltre and Guarino Veronese created schools based on humanistic principles. Their curriculum was widely adopted and by the sixteenth century, humanistic "paideia" was the dominant outlook of pre-university education. Parallel with advances in education, various humanists in renaissance made progress in different fields, as in philosophy, mathematics and religion. In philosophy, Angelo Poliziano, Nicholas of Cusa, and Marsilio Ficino contributed further to the understanding of ancient classical philosophers and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola undermined the dominance of Aristotelian philosophy by revitalizing Sextus Empiricus skepticism. Even religious studies were affected by the growth of renaissance humanism, when Pope Nicholas V initiated the translation of Hebrew and Greek biblical and other texts to contemporary Latin.


title: Humanism

text: Humanist values spread from Italy in the fifteenth century. Students and scholars came to Italy to study before returning to their homelands carrying humanistic messages. Printing houses dedicated to ancient text were established in Venice, Basel and Paris. By the end of fifteenth century, the center of humanism had shifted from Italy to northern Europe, with Erasmus of Rotterdam being the leading humanist scholar. The longest-lasting effect of Renaissance humanism was its education curriculum and methods. Humanists insisted on the importance of classical literature in providing intellectual discipline, moral standards, and a civilized taste for the elite—an educational approach that reached the contemporary era.


title: Humanism

text: During the Age of Enlightenment, humanistic ideas resurfaced, this time further from religion and classical literature. Science, reason, and intellectualism advanced, and the mind replaced God as the means with which to understand the world. Divinity was no longer dictating human morals, and humanistic values (such as tolerance and opposition to slavery) started to take shape. Life-changing technological discoveries allowed ordinary people to face religion with a new morality and greater confidence about humankind and its abilities. New philosophical, social, and political ideas appeared. Some thinkers rejected theism outright and various currents were formed; atheism, deism, and hostility to organized religion. Notably during the Enlightenment, Baruch Spinoza redefined God as signifying the totality of nature; Spinoza was accused of atheism but remained silent on the matter. Naturalism was also advanced by prominent Encyclopédistes. Baron d'Holbach wrote the polemic "System of Nature", claiming religion is built on fear and helped tyrants through the ages. Diderot and Helvetius also combined their materialism with sharp, political critique.


title: Humanism

text: Also during the Enlightenment, the abstract conception of humankind started forming—a critical juncture for the construction of humanist philosophy. Previous appeals to "Men" now shifted towards "Man"; this is evident in political documents like "The Social Contract" (1762) of Rousseau, in which he says "Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains". Likewise, Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" uses the singular form of the word, revealing a universal conception of Man. In parallel, Baconian empiricism—though not humanism "per se"—paved the way for Thomas Hobbes's materialism.


title: Humanism

text: Scholar J. Brent Crosson notes that, while it is a wide held belief that the birth of humanism was solely a European affair, the fact was that intellectual thought from other continents such as Africa and Asia contributed significantly as well. He also notes that during enlightenment, the universal Man did not encompass all humans but was shaped by gender and race. He thinks that the shift from man to human is a process that started during enlightenment and is still ongoing.Also, Crosson noted that enlightenment, especially in Britain during scientific revolution, produce not only the notion of universal man and an optimism that reason will prevail over religious superstitions, but also gave birth to pseudoscientific ideas such as "race" that shaped European history. He gives the paradigm of Africa; Africa was a contribution to knowledge until renaissance, but was disregarded afterwards.


title: Humanism

text: French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798–1857) introduced the idea—sometimes attributed to Thomas Paine—of a "religion of humanity". This was intended to be an atheist cult based on some humanistic tenets, and had some prominent members but soon declined. It was nonetheless influential during the 19th century, and its humanism and rejection of supernaturalism are echoed in the works of later authors such as Oscar Wilde, George Holyoake—who coined the word "secularism"—George Eliot, Émile Zola, and E. S. Beesly. Paine's "The Age of Reason", along with the 19th-century Biblical criticism of the German Hegelians David Strauss and Ludwig Feuerbach, also contributed to new forms of humanism.


title: Humanism

text: Advances in science and philosophy provided scholars with further alternatives to religious belief. Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection offered naturalists an explanation for the plurality of species. Darwin's theory also suggested that humans are just another naturalistic species, contradicting the traditional theological view of humans as more than animals. Philosophers Ludwig Feuerbach, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Karl Marx attacked religion on several grounds, and theologians David Strauss and Julius Wellhausen questioned the Bible. In parallel, utilitarianism was developed in Britain through the works of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism, a moral philosophy, centers its attention on human happiness, aiming to eliminate human and animal pain via purely natural means. In Europe and the US, as philosophical critiques of theistic beliefs grew, larger parts of society distanced themselves from religion. Ethical societies were formed, leading to the contemporary humanist movement.


title: Humanism

text: The rise of rationalism and the scientific method was followed in the late 19th century in Britain by the birth of many rationalist and ethical associations, such as the National Secular Society, the Ethical Union, and the Rationalist Press Association. In the 20th century, humanism was further promoted by the work of philosophers such as A. J. Ayer, Antony Flew, and Bertrand Russell, whose advocacy of atheism in "Why I Am Not a Christian" further popularized humanist ideas. In 1963, the British Humanist Association evolved out of the Ethical Union and merged with many smaller ethical and rationalist groups. Elsewhere in Europe, humanist organizations also flourished. In the Netherlands, the Dutch Humanist Alliance gained a wide base of support after World War II. In Norway, the Norwegian Humanist Association also gained popular support.


title: Humanism

text: In the US, humanism evolved with the aid of significant figures of the Unitarian Church. Humanist magazines began to appear, including The New Humanist which published the Humanist Manifesto I in 1933. The American Ethical Union emerged from newly founded, small, ethicist societies. The American Humanist Association (AHA) was established in 1941 and became as popular as some of its European counterparts. The AHA spread to all states, and some prominent public figures such as Isaac Asimov, John Dewey, Erich Fromm, Paul Kurtz, Carl Sagan, and Gene Roddenberry became members. Humanist organizations from all continents have created the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), which is now known as Humanists International and promotes the humanist agenda via the United Nations organizations UNESCO and UNICEF.


title: Humanism

text: Early 20th century naturalists, who viewed their humanism as a religion and participated in church-like congregations, used the term "religious humanism". Religious humanism appeared mostly in the US and is now rarely practiced. The American Humanist Association arose from religious humanism. The same term has also been used by religious groups, such as the Quakers, to describe their humanistic theology.


title: Humanism

text: The term "Renaissance humanism" was later given to a tradition of cultural and educational reform engaged in by civic and ecclesiastical chancellors, book collectors, educators, and writers. By the late 15th century, this collection of academics began to be referred to as "umanisti" ("humanists"). It developed during the 14th and early 15th centuries. While modern humanism's roots can be traced to the Renaissance, Renaissance humanism differs from it vastly.


title: Humanism

text: Immanuel Kant provided the underpinning of the humanist narrative. His theory of critical philosophy laid down the foundations the world of knowledge, defending rationalism and grounding it to the empirical world. He also supported the idea, fundamental to his philosophy, of the moral autonomy of the individual. Kant argued that morality is the product of the way humans live and not a preset of fixed values. Instead of a universalistic ethic code, Kant suggested a universalistic procedure that shapes the various ethics that differ among various group of people.


title: Humanism

text: Humanism is strongly linked to rationality. For humanists, humans are reasonable beings but reasoning and the scientific method are the means of finding truth. Humanists argue that science and rationality have driven successful developments in various field, while the invocation of supernatural phenomena fails to coherently explain the world. One form of irrational thinking is adducing; thus, humanists are skeptical of explanations of natural phenomena or diseases that rely on hidden agencies.


title: Humanism

text: Another hallmark of humanist philosophy is human autonomy. For people to be autonomous, their beliefs and actions must be the result of their own reasoning. For humanists, autonomy dignifies each individual: without autonomy, people are reduced to being less than humans. Humanists also consider human essence to be universal, irrespective of race or social status, diminishing the importance of collective identities and signifying the importance of individuals.


title: Humanism

text: Philosopher and humanist advocate Corliss Lamont, in his book "The Philosophy of Humanism" (1997) states that "In the Humanist ethics the chief end of thought and action is to further this-earthly human interests on behalf of the greater glory of people. The watchword of Humanism is happiness for all humanity in this existence as contrasted with salvation for the individual soul in a future existence and the glorification of a supernatural Supreme Being...It heartily welcomes all life-enhancing and healthy pleasures, from the vigorous enjoyments of youth to the contemplative delights of mellowed age, from the simple gratifications of food and drink, sunshine and sports, to the more complex appreciation of art and literature, friendship and social communion...".


title: Humanism

text: Criticism of humanism focuses on its adherence to human rights, which some critics have further claimed are "Western". Critics claim humanist values have become a tool of Western moral dominance, which is a form of neo-colonialism leading to oppression and a lack of ethical diversity. Other critics argue humanism is an oppressive philosophy because it is not free from the biases of the white, heterosexual males who shaped it. History professor Samuel Moyn attacks humanism for its advocacy of human rights. According to Moyn, in the 1960s, human rights were a declaration of anti-colonial struggle but during the 1970s, they were transformed into a utopian vision, replacing the failing utopias of the 20th century. The humanist underpinning of human rights transforms them into a moral tool that is impractical and ultimately non-political. He also finds a commonality between humanism and the Catholic discourse on human dignity.


title: Humanism

text: Anthropology professor Talal Asad sees humanism as a project of modernity and a secularized continuation of Western Christian theology. In Asad's view, just as the Catholic Church passed the Christian doctrine of love to Africa and Asia while assisting in the enslavement of large parts of their population, humanist values have at times been a pretext for Western countries to expand their influence to other parts of the world to humanize "barbarians". Asad has also argued that humanism is not a purely secular phenomenon but takes the idea of the essence of humanity from Christianity. Asad argues that Western humanisms cannot incorporate other humanistic traditions, such as those from India and China, without subsuming and ultimately eliminating them.


title: Humanism

text: Sociology professor Didier Fassin sees humanism's focus on empathy and compassion rather than goodness and justice as a problem. According to Fassin, humanism originated in the Christian tradition, particularly the Parable of the Good Samaritan, in which empathy is universalized. Fassin also claims humanism's central essence, the sanctity of human life, is a religious victory hidden in a secular wrapper.


title: Humanism

text: Another line of argumentation regarding humanism states that the philosophy is against traditional values, and destroys family and family values. A similar line, with a more religious tone, argues that the materialism of humanism diminishes humananity, as humans no longer have a soul, a "higher nature", or are a reflection of God.


title: Humanism

text: Antihumanism is a philosophical theory that rejects humanism on the ground it is a pre-scientific ideology. This argument developed during the 19th and 20th centuries in parallel with the advancement of humanism. Prominent thinkers questioned the metaphysics of humanism and the human nature of its concept of freedom. Nietzsche, while departing from a humanistic, pro-Enlightenment viewpoint, criticized humanism for illusions on a number of topics, especially the nature of truth. For Nietzsche, objective truth is an anthropomorphic illusion and humanism is meaningless. Nietzsche also argued that replacing theism with reason and science simply replaced one religion with another.


title: Humanism

text: According to Karl Marx, humanism is a bourgeois project that attempts to present itself as radical when it is not. After the atrocities of World War II, questions about human nature and the concept of humanity were renewed. During the Cold War, influential Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser introduced the term "theoretical antihumanism" to attack both humanism and socialist currents that leaned towards humanism, eschewing more structural and formal interpretations of Marx. According to Althusser, Marx's early writings resonate with the humanistic idealism of Hegel, Kant, and Feuerbach but Marx took a radical turn towards scientific socialism in 1845, rejecting concepts such as the essence of man. Other antihumanists such as Martin Heidegger and Michel Foucault attacked the notion of humanity using psychoanalysis, Marxism, and linguistic theory.


title: Humanism

text: The humanist attitude towards morality has changed through the centuries. During the modern era, starting in the 18th century, humanists were oriented towards an objective and universalist stance on ethics. Both Utilitarian philosophy (which aims to increase human happiness and decrease suffering) and Kantian ethics (which states that one should act in accordance with maxims that one could will to become a universal law) shaped the humanist moral narrative until the early 20th century. Because the concepts of free will and reason are not based on scientific naturalism, their influence on humanists remained in the early 20th century but was reduced by social progressiveness and egalitarianism. As part of the social changes nations faced in the late 20th century, humanist ethics evolved to support secularism, civil rights, personal autonomy, religious toleration, multiculturalism, and cosmopolitanism.


title: Humanism

text: A naturalistic criticism to humanistic morality is the denial of the existence of morality. For naturalistic skeptics, morality was never wired within humans, during the evolutionary process that created humans, who are primarily selfish and self centered. Defending humanist morality, humanist philosopher John R. Shook makes three observations that lead him to the acceptance of morality. First he notices that homo sapiens have a conception of morality and this concept must have been with the species since the beginning of human history, developing by recognizing and thinking upon behaviors. He also adds that morality is a universal finding among human cultures and all cultures strive to improve their moral level. Spook concludes that while morality was initially generated by our genes, culture also shaped and is shaping human morals. He calls "moral naturalism" the view that morality is a natural phenomenon, can be scientifically studied, and that morality is a tool, rather than a set of doctrines, used to develop human culture.


title: Humanism

text: Humanist philosopher Brian Ellis argues for a social humanist theory of morality called "social contractual utilitarianism", which is built on Hume's naturalism and empathy, Aristotelian virtue theory, and Kant's idealism. According to Ellis, morality should aim for eudaimonia, an Aristotelian concept that combines a satisfying life with virtue and happiness by improving societies on a global scale. Humanist Andrew Copson takes a consequentialist and utilitarian approach to morality. According to Copson, humanist ethical traits all aim at human welfare. Philosopher Stephen Law emphasizes certain principles of humanist ethics; respect for personal moral autonomy, rejection of god-given moral commands, an aim for human well-being, and "emphasiz[ing] the role of reason in making moral judgements".


title: Humanism

text: Humanism's godless approach to morality has driven religious criticism. A common argument states that for morals to exist there must be a divine being delivering sets of doctrines, and is illustrated by Dostoevsky in "The Brothers Karamazov": "if God does not exist, then everything is permitted". This argument suggests that chaos will ensue if religious belief disappears. For humanists, theism is an obstacle to morality rather than a precondition for it. According to humanists, if people act only out of fear, adherence to dogma, or expectation of a reward, this is a selfish motivation rather than morality. Humanists point to the subjectivity of the supposed objective divine commands by referring to the Euthyphro dilemma; "does God command something because it is good or is something good because God commands it?" If goodness is independent from God, humans can reach goodness without religion but relativism is invited if God creates goodness. Another line of arguing against this religious criticism, is that ultimately, even through religious means, morality is human-made. The interpretation of holy scriptures almost always includes human reasoning; interpreters reach contradictory theories, indicating morality is influenced by human reasoning.


title: Humanism

text: Humanism has been widely seen as antithetical to religion. Philosopher of religion David Kline, traces the roots of this animosity since renaissance, when humanistic views deconstructed of the previous religiously defined order. Kline describes various ways this antithesis has evolved. Firstly, Kline notes, that the emergence of a confident human-made knowledge, which was a new way of epistemology, repelled the church from its previous authoritative place. Kline uses the paradigm of non-humanist Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo, to illustrate how scientific discoveries added to the deconstruction of the religious narrative in favor of human generated knowledge. That ultimately delinked the fate of human from the divine will prompting social and political shifts The relation of state and citizens changed as civic humanistic principles emerged, where people were not meant to be servile to religiously grounded monarchies anymore, but could pursue their own destiny. Kline also points at the aspect of personal beliefs, that added to the hostility among humanism and religion. Humanism was associated with prominent thinkers that advocated on a rational basis against the existence of God. Critique of theism continued through the various (humanistic) revolutions in Europe, constantly challenging religious worldview, attitudes and superstitions on a rational basis- a tendency that continued to the 20th century.


title: Humanism

text: According to Stephen Law, Humanism adherence to secularism place him at odds with religion, especially dominant religion in each country striving to retain privileges gained the last centuries. Worth noting that religious persons can be, and indeed many are, secularists. Law notices a line of criticism against secularism, that it suppress freedom of expression of religious persons but firmly denies such accusation- instead he says, he protects this kind of freedom- it just opposes privilege status of religious views.


title: Humanism

text: Prominent humanist Andrew Copson adopts a more peaceful stance against religion. For Copson, humanism is not incompatible with various aspects of religion. Copson sees various domains in religion: Belief, practice, identity and cultural, in which a person adhering to few religious domains could also be humanist. Copson adds that religious critics usually frame humanism as an enemy of religion, but in contrary, most humanists are proponents of religious tolerance or exhibit a curiosity on religions effects in society politics, commenting "Only a few are regularly outraged by other people’s false beliefs per se."


title: Humanism

text: In the 19th century, the problem of the meaning of life arose, along with the decline of religion and its accompanied teleology, puzzling both society and philosophers. Unlike religions, humanism does not have a definite view on the meaning of life. Humanists commonly say people create rather than discover meaning. While many philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche wrote on the meaning of life in a godless world, the work of Albert Camus has echoed and shaped humanism. In "The Myth of Sisyphus", the absurd hero Sisyphus is destined to push a heavy rock up to a hill; the rock slips back and he must repeat the task.


title: Humanism

text: Personal humanist interpretations of the meaning of life vary from the pursuit of happiness without recklessness and excesses to participation in human history and connection with loved ones, living animals, and plants. Some answers are not far from those of religious discourse if the appeal to divinity is overlooked. According to humanist professor Peter Derks, the features that contribute to the meaning of life are: having a purpose in life that is morally worthy, positively evaluating oneself, having an understanding of one's environment, being seen and understood by others, the ability to connect emotionally with others, and a desire to have a meaning in life. Humanist professor Anthony B. Pinn places the meaning of life in the quest of what he calls "complex subjectivity". Pinn, who is advocating for a non-theistic, humanistic religion inspired by African cultures, says seeking the never-reaching meaning of life contributes to well-being. Pinn argues rituals and ceremonies, which are times for reflection, provide an opportunity to assess the meaning of life, improving well-being.


title: Humanism

text: Well-being and the living of a good life have been at the center of humanist reflection. For humanists, well-being is intertwined with values that arise from the meaning of life that each human sets for him or herself. Humanist philosopher Bertrand Russell described the good life as one "inspired by love, guided by knowledge". A.C. Grayling noted a good life "is the life that feels meaningful and fulfilling to the one living it". Despite the platitudes, humanism does not have a doctrine of good life nor offers any certainties; each person should decide for herself what constitutes a good life. For humanists, it is vital the option for a meaningful and fulfilling life is open to all members of society.


title: Humanism

text: The hallmark of contemporary humanism in the political arena, is the demand for secularism. Philosopher Alan Haworth, says that secularism deliver fair treatment to all citizens of a State, since all are treated without discrimination, since religion is a private issue and the state should have no say over it. He also adds secularism helps plurality and diversity, that are fundamental aspects of our modern world. Haworth, also examines political objections to humanist call for secularism. He examines the conservative argument of Edmund Burke that calls for common sense instead of abstract reasoning, and preserving traditional and Christian values and puts importance on national continuity. Haworth sees that Christian Values have not stopped Europeans committing atrocities in Europe and elsewhere. While this kind of barbarism can be found in most civilizations, Haworth notes that religions usually fuels rhetoric and enable these actions. More, he adds, the values of hard work, honesty, charity and likewise, are also to be found in other civilizations. Humanism, Haworth adds, also opposes the irrationality of nationalism and totalitarianism, whether these be part of fascism or Marxist–Leninist communism.


title: Humanism

text: According to professor Joseph O. Baker, in political theory, contemporary humanism is sculptured by two main axons. The first is more individualistic, and the second inclines to collectivism. The trajectory of these two axons leads to libertarianism and socialism respectively, but a whole range of various combinations exist. Individualistic humanists often have a philosophical perspective of humanism, in the political arena are inclined to libertarianism and in ethics tend to follow a scientistic approach. Those who lean to collectivism, have a more applied view of humanism, they lean towards socialism and have a humanitarian approach in ethics. The second group has some connections with the thought of young Marx, especially his anthropological views rejecting his political practices. A factor that holds many humanists away from the libertarian view, is the consequences they feel it bears. Libertarianism is tied to neoliberalism and capitalistic society that is conceived to be inhumane.


title: Humanism

text: Historically, humanism has been a part of both major 20th-century ideological currents—liberalism and Marxism. Early 19th-century socialism was connected to humanism. In the twentieth century, a humanistic interpretation of Marxism focused on Marx's early writings, viewing Marxism not as a "scientific socialism" but as a philosophical critique aimed at the overcoming of "alienation". In the US, liberalism is associated mostly with humanistic principles, which is distinct from the European use of the same word, which has economical connotations. In the Post-War era, Jean-Paul Sartre and other French existentialists advocated for humanism, tying it to socialism while trying to stay neutral during the Cold War.


title: Humanism

text: Humanist counseling is the applied psychology inspired by humanism, which is one of the major currents of counseling. There are various approaches such as discussion and critical thinking, replying to existential anxiety, and focusing on social and political dimensions of problems. Humanist counseling focuses on respecting the worldview of clients and placing it in the correct cultural context. The approach emphasizes an individual's inherent drive towards self-actualization and creativity. It also recognizes the importance of moral questions about the way one should interact with people according to one's worldview. This is examined using a process of dialogue. Generally, humanist counseling aspires to help people to live a good, fulfilling, and meaningful life by continual interpretation and reflection. Humanist counseling originated in the post-World War II Netherlands.


title: Humanism

text: Humanistic counseling, a different term from humanist counseling, is based on the works of psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. It introduced a positive, humanistic psychology in response to what they viewed as the over-pessimistic view of psychoanalysis in the early 1960s. Other sources include the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology.


title: Humanism

text: Some modern counselling organisations have humanist origins, like the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy in the UK, which was founded by Harold Blackham, which he developed alongside the British Humanist Association's Humanist Counselling Service. Modern-day humanist pastoral care in the UK and the Netherlands also draws on elements of humanistic psychology.


title: Humanism

text: In Africa, contemporary humanism has been shaped by the continent's colonial history and the introduction of Christianity and Islam. African philosophers focused on the interdependency among humans and between humans and nature. Pre-colonial oral traditions reflecting African views on humanity and human good were eliminated by the entrance of European powers. Christianity and Islam advanced and many intra-African atrocities took place. Even so, Africans never abandoned the ideas of human value and the mutual interdependence of humans, which are core features of African humanism. This idea was advanced by philosophers such as Kwasi Wiredu and Jean-Godefroy Bidima. Wiredu emphased the need of human interaction for human to become what he is, and projected his thought to the need for democracy. Bidima added that the interaction should be enduringly since history and humans are constantly evolving. Socialist philosopher Léopold Sédar Senghor, Africans were naturally leaning towards humanism (and socialism), not because of its scientific or epistemological basis, but because of their intuition.


title: Humanism

text: It is a widely held view among scholars that due to the dominance of Islam, humanistic values found a hostile environment in the Middle East and were unable to flourish. Even so, scholar Khurram Hussain identifies some traits of the early Islamic world which he thinks resonates with humanism. He notes that Islam unified a diverse population and provided political, epistemological and social solutions to the then-fragmented Arab world. Also, Hussain argues that there is a form of humanism within the Islamic anthropology. To support his argument, he notes various examples (e.g., the lack of "original sin") indicating that in Islamic theology, the human is a free moral agent. He also points to Islamic scholars such as Ibn al-‛Arabī and al-Jīlī who placed humans at the centre of the universe, a place held for God in Christian traditions. Khurram Hussain also notes the Arab Spring of 2011 revived certain humanistic values (including democracy, freedom, and fairness) in Middle East and argues they are not incompatible with Islam.


title: Humanism

text: In East Asia, Confucianism's core ideas are humanistic. The philosophy of Confucius (551–479 BCE), which eventually became the basis of the state ideology of successive Chinese dynasties and nearby polities in East Asia, contains several humanistic traits, placing a high value on human life, and discounting mysticism and superstition, including speculations on ghosts and an afterlife. Confucianism is considered a religious form of humanism because supernatural phenomena such as Heaven (tian)—which supposedly guides the world—have a place in it. In the "Analects of Confucius", humanist features are apparent; sinologist Theodore de Bary spots respectfulness, reasonableness, kindness, and enthusiasm for learning. A fundamental teaching of Confucius was that a person can become a "junzi" (someone who is noble, just, or kind) through education. Without religious appeals, Confucius advised people to act according to an axiom that is the negative mirror of the Western golden rule: "Is there one word that one can act upon throughout the course of one's life?" According to Confucius; "Reciprocity [shu]—what you would not want for yourself, do not do to others". (Analects 15:23) After Confucius' death, his disciple Mencius (371–289 BCE) centered his philosophies on secular, humanistic concerns like the nature of good governance and the role of education rather than ideas founded on the state or folk religions of the time. Societies in China, Japan and Korea were shaped by the prevalence of humanistic Confucianism.


title: Humanism

text: Early Taoism also holds some humanistic tenets. Taoism developed initially as a naturalistic philosophy, aiming to the harmony of self, society and the universe. Naturalness is the goal that is achieved by "wu wei" (non‐action), and philosopher Michael LaFargue contends that the philosophy's fundamental book, the "Tao Te Ching", is based on humanistic thought. Buddhism also has been seen to bear elements of humanistic thought. This is because Buddhism aims to the salvage human from the sorrows of life, after abandoning egoistic tendencies and coming in peace with society and universe.


title: Humanism

text: The United States Constitution was shaped by humanistic ideas flowing from the Enlightenment, but did not go far enough to tackle gender and race inequality issues. Professor Carol Wayne White notes that Black communities experiencing injustice leaned towards atheism in the 20th Century. Lately, many Black organizations rejecting theism or embracing a humanistic agenda are loosely connected within the Black Lives Matter movement. Black literature reveals the quest for freedom and justice in a community often subordinated to white dominance.


title: Humanism

text: Humanism in Latin America is hard to detect mainly because of the dominance of Catholicism and Protestantism. European positivism had influenced the thought of scholars and political leaders in Latin America during the 19th century but its influences waved at the next century. In recent years, humanist organizations have multiplied in Latin America.


title: Humanism

text: In Europe, various currents of 19th century though as freethinkers, ethicists, atheists and rationalists have merged to form the contemporary humanist movement. Various national organizations founded the European Humanist Federation (EHF) in 1991, affirming their strong support of secularism. All humanistic organizations strongly promote a naturalistic world view, scientific approach, individualism and solidarity but they vary in terms of their practice. One line is that they should focus to meet the needs of nonreligious peoples or their members, the other one is pursuing activism in order to bring social change. These two main patterns in European humanism, that coexist within humanist organizations often collude with each other.


title: Humanism

text: Humanists demographic data are sparse. Scholar Yasmin Trejo examined the results of a Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study, that was released in 2014. Trejo did not use self-identification as a method to measure humanists, but combined the answers of 2 particular questions: "Do you believe in God or a universal spirit?" (she picked those answering "no") and "when it comes to questions of right or wrong, which of the following do you look to most for guidance?" (picking answers "scientific information" and "philosophy and reason"). Trejo finds that most humanists identify as atheist or agnostics (37% and 18%), 29% as "nothing in particular", while 16% of humanists identify as religious (following religious traditions). She also found that most humanists (80%) were raised having a religious background. Six out of 10 humanists are married to non-religious spouses, while one in four humanists are married to a Christian. There is a gender divide among humanists, with most being males (67%). Trejo suggests that this can be explained by the fact that more atheists are males, while women have stronger connections to religion because of socialization, community influence, and stereotypes. Other findings note the high education level of most humanists that indicates a higher socioeconomic status. Finally, the overwhelming population of humanists is non-Hispanic white; Trejo's explanations is that minority groups are usually very religious.


title: Humanism

text: Humanists UK (formerly the British Humanist Association) and the American Humanist Association are two of the oldest humanist organizations.


title: Humanism

text: London-based Humanists UK has around 28,000 members and a budget of over £1 million (2015 figures) to cover operational costs. Its membership includes some high-profile people such as Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox, Salman Rushdie, Polly Toynbee, and Stephen Fry, who are mostly known for their participation in public debate, promoting reason, science and secularism, and objecting to state funding for faith-based events or institutes. Humanists UK organizes and conducts non-religious ceremonies for weddings, namings, coming of age, and funerals. According to Stephen Law, ceremonies and rituals exist in our culture because they help humans express emotions rather than having a magical effect on the participants.


title: Humanism

text: The American Humanist Association was formed in 1941 from previous humanist associations. Its journal "The Humanist" is the continuation of a previous publication "The Humanist Bulletin". In 1953, the AHA established the "Humanist of the Year" award to honor individuals who promote science. A few decades later, it became a well-recognized organization, initiating progressive campaigns for abortion rights and opposing discriminatory policies, resulted in it becoming a target of the religious right by the 1980s. High-profile members of academia and public figures have published work in "The Humanist", and joined and lead the AHA.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums). Subsequently based in Macon, Georgia, they incorporated elements of blues, jazz, and country music, and their live shows featured jam band-style improvisation and instrumentals.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Their first two studio releases, "The Allman Brothers Band" (1969) and "Idlewild South" (1970) (both released by Capricorn Records), stalled commercially, but their 1971 live release "At Fillmore East" was an artistic and commercial breakthrough. It features extended versions of their songs "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post", and is considered among the best live albums ever made.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident later that year – on October 29, 1971 – and the band dedicated "Eat a Peach" (1972) to his memory, a dual studio/live album that cemented the band's popularity and featured Gregg Allman's "Melissa" and Dickey Betts's "Blue Sky". Following the motorcycling death of bassist Berry Oakley one year and 13 days later on November 11, 1972, the group recruited keyboardist Chuck Leavell and bassist Lamar Williams for 1973's "Brothers and Sisters." The album included Betts's hit single "Ramblin' Man" and instrumental "Jessica", which went on to become classic rock radio staples and placed the group at the forefront of 1970s rock music. Internal turmoil overtook them soon after; the group dissolved in 1976, reformed briefly at the end of the decade with additional personnel changes, and dissolved again in 1982.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The band re-formed once more in 1989, releasing a string of new albums and touring heavily. A series of personnel changes in the late 1990s was capped by the departure of Betts. The group found stability during the 2000s with bassist Oteil Burbridge and guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks (the nephew of their original drummer) and became renowned for their month-long string of shows at New York City's Beacon Theatre each spring. The band retired for good in October 2014 after their final show at the Beacon Theatre.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Butch Trucks died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on January 24, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 69. Gregg Allman died from complications arising from liver cancer on May 27, 2017 at his home in Georgia, also at 69. The band was awarded seven gold and four platinum albums, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. "Rolling Stone" ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Duane Allman and his younger brother Gregg grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida. Gregg was first to pick up the guitar, but his brother soon surpassed him, dropping out of high school to practice constantly. The duo formed their first band, the Escorts, which evolved into the Allman Joys in the mid-1960s. By 1967, the group spent time in St. Louis, where a Los Angeles-based recording executive discovered them; they consequently moved out West and were renamed the Hour Glass, cutting two unsuccessful albums for Liberty Records. Duane moved back to pursue a career as a session musician in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, while Gregg stayed behind in Hollywood bound by contractual obligations with Liberty, who believed he could hold a solo career. The two were apart for the first time for a year, but managed to reconvene in Miami, producing an album-length demo with the 31st of February, a group that included drummer Butch Trucks.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: At FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Duane Allman became the primary session guitarist, recording with artists such as Aretha Franklin and King Curtis. Duane suggested to Wilson Pickett they record a cover of "Hey Jude" by the Beatles; the single went to number 23 on the national charts. FAME signed Duane to a five-year recording contract, and he put together a group, including Johnny Sandlin and Paul Hornsby. Duane recruited Jai Johanny Johanson (Jaimoe) after hearing his drumming on a songwriting demo of Jackie Avery, and the two moved into his home on the Tennessee River. Allman invited bassist Berry Oakley to jam with the new group; the pair had met in a Macon, Georgia club some time earlier, and became quick friends. The group had immediate chemistry, and Duane's vision for a "different" band—one with two lead guitarists and two drummers—began evolving. Meanwhile, Phil Walden, the manager of the late Otis Redding and several other R&B acts, was looking to expand into rock acts. FAME owner Rick Hall became frustrated with the group's recording methods, and offered the tracks recorded and their contract to Walden and Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records, who purchased them for $10,000. Walden intended the upcoming group to be the centerpiece of his new Atlantic-distributed label, Capricorn.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Duane and Jaimoe moved to Jacksonville in early March 1969, as Duane had become frustrated with being a "robot" of those at FAME. He invited anyone who wanted to join to the jam sessions that birthed the Allman Brothers Band. Dickey Betts, leader of Oakley's previous band, the Second Coming, became the group's second lead guitarist, while Butch Trucks, with whom Duane and Gregg had cut a demo less than a year prior, became the new group's second drummer. The Second Coming's Reese Wynans played keyboards, and Duane, Oakley, and Betts all shared vocal duties. The unnamed group began to perform free shows in Willow Branch Park in Jacksonville, with an ever-changing, rotating cast of musicians. Duane felt strongly his brother should be the vocalist of the new group (which effectively eliminated Wynans's position, as Gregg also played keyboards). Gregg left Los Angeles and entered rehearsal on March 26, 1969, when the group was rehearsing Muddy Waters' "Trouble No More" Although Gregg was initially intimidated by the musicians, Duane pressured his brother into "singing [his] guts out." Four days later, the group made their debut at the Jacksonville Armory. Although many names were kicked around, including Beelzebub, the six-piece eventually decided on the Allman Brothers Band.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The group moved to Macon, Georgia by May 1, where Walden was establishing Capricorn Records. Mike Callahan and Joseph "Red Dog" Campbell became the band's early crew members. "Red Dog" was a disabled Vietnam veteran who donated his monthly disability checks to the band's cause. In Macon, the group stayed at friend Twiggs Lyndon's apartment on 309 College Street, which became known as the communal home of the band and crew, nicknamed the Hippie Crash Pad. "There were five or six occupied apartments in the building with the Hippie Crash Pad and you would expect they would call the police on us because we were constantly raising hell at three or four in the morning, but they all just moved out," said Trucks. Living meagerly, they found a friend in "Mama Louise" Hudson, cook and proprietor of the H&H Soul Food Restaurant, who ran a tab when they were short of funds, early on made good with proceeds from Duane's recording sessions on the side. The band's image was radical in the just barely integrated Macon: "A lot of the white folk around here did not approve of them long-haired boys, or of them always having a black guy with them," said Hudson. The band performed locally, as well as 80 miles north in Atlanta's Piedmont Park, and practiced at the newly minted Capricorn nearly each day.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The group forged a strong brotherhood, spending countless hours rehearsing, consuming psychedelic drugs, and hanging out in Rose Hill Cemetery, where they wrote songs. Their first performances outside the South came on May 30 and 31 in Boston, opening for The Velvet Underground. In need of more material, the group remade old blues numbers such as "Trouble No More" and "One Way Out", in addition to improvised jams such as "Mountain Jam". Gregg, who had struggled to write in the past, became the band's sole songwriter, composing songs such as "Whipping Post" and "Black-Hearted Woman". The band was originally set to record their first album in Miami with Cream and John Coltrane producer Tom Dowd, who proved unavailable. Instead, they headed off for New York City in August 1969 to work with Atlantic house engineer Adrian Barber in his first producer credit. "The Allman Brothers Band" was recorded and mixed in two weeks, and proved a positive experience for the ensemble. New York came to be regarded within the group as their "second home". "The Allman Brothers Band" was released in November 1969 through Atco and Capricorn Records, but received a poor commercial response, selling less than 35,000 copies upon initial release.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Executives suggested to Walden that he relocate the band to New York or Los Angeles to "acclimate" them to the industry. "They wanted us to act 'like a rock band' and we just told them to fuck themselves," remembered Trucks. For their part, the members of the band remained optimistic, electing to stay in the South. "Everyone told us we'd fall by the wayside down there," said Gregg Allman, but the collaboration between the band and Capricorn Records "transformed Macon from this sleepy little town into a very hip, wild and crazy place filled with bikers and rockers". The band rented a $165-a-month farmhouse on a lake outside of Macon, the busy comings and goings at which reminded them of New York City's Idlewild Airport. Idlewild South was the home of rehearsals and parties, and was "where the brotherhood came to pass," according to roadie Kim Payne; "There was a pact made out there around a campfire—all for one and one for all ... Everybody believed [in the band] 100 percent." Much of the material presented on the band's second album, "Idlewild South", originated at the cabin. Oakley's wife rented a large Tudor Revival home on 2321 Vineville Avenue in Macon and the band moved into what they dubbed "the Big House" in March 1970.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The band played continuously in 1970, performing over 300 dates on the road traveling in a Ford Econoline van and later, a Winnebago, nicknamed the Wind Bag. Walden doubted the band's future, worrying whether they would ever catch on, but word of mouth spread due to the band's relentless touring schedule, and crowds got larger. The close proximity of the Winnebago brought about heavy drug use within the group, and all in the group, with the exception of the brothers, were struggling to make a living. In one instance, touring manager Twiggs Lyndon stabbed and killed a promoter for not paying the band; he later cited temporary insanity. Later that year, Duane accidentally overdosed on opium after a show. "Idlewild South", produced by Tom Dowd, was recorded gradually over a period of five months in various cities, including New York, Miami, and Macon, and contained two of the band's best-known songs, "Midnight Rider" (later a hit for various artists, including a Top 20 solo effort by Gregg) and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", which became one of the band's famous concert numbers.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: "Idlewild South" was issued by Atco and Capricorn Records in September 1970, less than a year after their debut. The album sold only "marginally better than its predecessor, though the band had a growing national reputation and the album included songs that would become staples of the band's repertoire—and eventually of rock radio." Shortly after completing recording, Dowd put Duane in contact with guitarist Eric Clapton, who invited him to contribute to his new project, Derek and the Dominos. Allman was a huge fan of Clapton's work with Cream, and Clapton had been blown away by Allman's session work on Wilson Pickett's "Hey Jude" some years prior. They met after a show one night in Miami and jammed together until the next afternoon, with the two guitarists regarding one another as "instant soulmates". Clapton invited Duane to join Derek and the Dominos, and by several accounts he considered it; in the end, he declined the offer and rejoined the Allman Brothers Band, returning after missing a string of several shows. The sessions were collected on "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs", issued that November.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Their fortunes began to change over the course of 1971, when the band's average earnings doubled. "We realized that the audience was a big part of what we did, which couldn't be duplicated in a studio. A lightbulb finally went off; we needed to make a live album," said Gregg Allman. "At Fillmore East" was recorded over three nights—March 11, 12 and 13, 1971—at the Fillmore East in New York, for which the band was paid a nightly $1,250. "At Fillmore East" was released in July 1971 by Capricorn Records as a double album, "people-priced" for the cost of a single LP. While previous albums by the band had taken months to hit the charts (often near the bottom of the top 200), the record started to climb the charts after a matter of days. "At Fillmore East" peaked at number 13 on "Billboard" Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America that October, becoming their commercial and artistic breakthrough. The album is considered among the best live albums of all time, and in 2004 was one of the albums selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" by the National Recording Registry.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Although suddenly very wealthy and successful, many of the band and its entourage now struggled with heroin addiction. Four individuals — group leader Duane Allman, bassist Berry Oakley, and roadies Robert Payne and Red Dog Campbell — checked into the Linwood-Bryant Hospital for rehabilitation in October 1971. On October 29, 1971, Duane Allman, then 24, was killed in a motorcycle accident one day after returning to Macon. Allman was riding his motorcycle at a high speed at the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and Bartlett Street as a flatbed truck carrying a lumber crane approached. The truck stopped suddenly in the intersection, forcing Allman to swerve his Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle sharply to the left to avoid a collision. As he was doing so, he struck either the back of the truck or the ball on the lumber crane and was immediately thrown from the motorcycle. The motorcycle bounced into the air, landed on Allman and skidded another 90 feet with Allman pinned underneath, crushing his internal organs. Though he was alive when he arrived at the hospital, despite immediate emergency surgery, he died several hours later from massive internal injuries.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: After Duane's death, the band held a meeting on their future; clearly all wanted to continue, and after a short period, the band returned to the road. "We all had this thing in us and Duane put it there. He was the teacher and he gave something to us—his disciples—that we had to play out," said drummer Butch Trucks. The band returned to Miami in December to complete work on their third studio album. Completing the recording of "Eat a Peach" raised each member's spirits; "The music brought life back to us all, and it was simultaneously realized by every one of us. We found strength, vitality, newness, reason, and belonging as we worked on finishing "Eat a Peach"," said Allman. "Those last three songs [...] just kinda floated right on out of us [...] The music was still good, it was still rich, and it still had that energy—it was still the Allman Brothers Band." Released in February 1972, "Eat a Peach" was the band's second hit album, shipping gold and peaking at number four on "Billboard" Top 200 Pop Albums chart. "We'd been through hell, but somehow we were rolling bigger than ever," said Gregg Allman.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The band performed nearly 90 shows in the following year, touring as a five-piece. The band also purchased 432 acres of land in Juliette, Georgia for $160,000 and nicknamed it "the Farm"; it soon became a group hangout and fulfilled bassist Oakley's communal dreams. Oakley, however, was visibly suffering from the death of his friend: he drank excessively and consumed drugs, and was losing weight quickly. According to friends and family, he appeared to have lost "all hope, his heart, his drive, his ambition, [and] his direction" following Duane's death. "Everything Berry had envisioned for everybody—including the crew, the women and children—was shattered on the day Duane died, and he didn't care after that," said roadie Kim Payne. Oakley repeatedly wished to "get high, be high, and stay high," causing quiet concern from all those around him. On November 11, 1972, slightly inebriated and overjoyed at the prospect of leading a jam session later that night, Oakley crashed his motorcycle into the side of a bus, just three blocks from where Duane had been killed. He declined hospital treatment and went home, but gradually grew delirious. He was taken to the hospital shortly thereafter and died of cerebral swelling caused by a fractured skull. Oakley was buried directly beside Duane at Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The band unanimously decided to carry on and arranged auditions for new bassists, with a renewed fervor and determination. Several bassists auditioned, but the band picked Lamar Williams, an old friend of drummer Jai Johanny Johanson's from Gulfport, Mississippi, two years removed from an Army stint in Vietnam. Chuck Leavell was asked to play piano for Allman's solo album, "Laid Back" (1973), and gradually found himself contributing to the Allman Brothers as well. Dickey Betts became the group's "de facto" leader during the recording process. "It's not like Dickey came in and said, 'I'm taking over. I'm the boss. Do this and that.' It wasn't overt; it was still supposedly a democracy, but Dickey started doing more and more of the songwriting," said road manager Willie Perkins. "Brothers and Sisters" was an enormous success, peaking at number one, resulting in the band becoming "the most popular band in the country." "Ramblin' Man", Betts' country-infused number, received interest from radio stations immediately, and it rose to number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The Allman Brothers Band returned to touring, playing larger venues, receiving more profit and dealing with less friendship, miscommunication, and spiraling drug problems. This culminated in a backstage brawl when the band played with the Grateful Dead at Washington's RFK Stadium in June 1973, which resulted in the firing of three of the band's longtime roadies. The band played arenas and stadiums almost solely as their drug use escalated. In 1974, the band was regularly making $100,000 per show, and was renting the Starship, a customized Boeing 720B used by Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. "When [we] got that goddamn plane, it was the beginning of the end," said Allman. Both Allman and Betts released top-20 solo albums in 1974 ("The Gregg Allman Tour" and "Highway Call").


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: In July 1974 the band visited Europe for the first time. They had planned to tour Britain and Europe at the beginning of that year, but the 1973-4 energy crisis forced a last-minute postponement. They headlined 2 big out-door events. One, the 'Summerconcert '74' at the Sportpark, Hilversum, Holland, on July 18, attended by 20.000 spectators, and the second one, at 'Bucolic Frolic', the first Knebworth Park Festival, on July 20, where they played a well-received three-hour two-set performance in front of 70.000 fans, from all over Europe.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The sessions that produced 1975's "Win, Lose or Draw", the last album by the original Allman Brothers Band, were disjointed and inconsistent; Gregg Allman was largely living in Los Angeles and dating pop star Cher, and was, according to biographer Alan Paul, "[becoming] more famous for being famous than for his music." His vocals were recorded there, as he could not be bothered to return to Macon. Upon its release, it was considered subpar and sold less than its predecessor; the band later remarked that they were "embarrassed" about the album.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: From August 1975 to May 1976, the Allman Brothers Band played 41 shows to some of the biggest crowds of their career. Gradually, the members of the band grew apart during these tours, with sound checks and rehearsals "[becoming] a thing of the past." Allman later pointed to a benefit for presidential candidate Jimmy Carter (an avowed fan of the group) as the only real "high point" in an otherwise "rough, rough tour." The shows were considered lackluster and the members were excessive in their drug use. The "breaking point" came when Gregg Allman testified in the trial of security man Scooter Herring. Bandmates considered him a "snitch", and he received death threats, leading to law-enforcement protection. Herring was convicted on five counts of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and received a 75-year prison sentence, which was later reduced prior to a presidential pardon from Carter. For his part, Allman always maintained that Herring had told him to take the deal to turn state's evidence and that he (Herring) would take the fall; nevertheless, the band refused to communicate with Allman after the incident. As a result, the band finally broke up; Leavell, Williams, and Jaimoe continued playing together in Sea Level, Betts formed Great Southern, and Allman founded the Gregg Allman Band. The 1976 live album "Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas" was seen as "the last gasp of a dying band," which was unfortunate for the now-floundering Capricorn Records, which desperately needed the band together to stay afloat.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: In 1978, Allman and Walden first approached Betts with the idea of a reunion. Their first public appearance together came at a Great Southern show in New York's Central Park that summer, when Allman, Trucks, and Jaimoe joined the band for a few songs. Williams and Leavell declined to leave Sea Level, so the Allman Brothers Band hired guitarist Dan Toler and bassist David Goldflies from Great Southern. The band reunited with Tom Dowd at Criteria Studios in Miami to cut their reunion album, which was released in February 1979 as "Enlightened Rogues", a term Duane had used to describe the band. While the band "tried to make it happen," they later concluded that the chemistry was not there; the album was a minor commercial success, which was credited to the production work from Dowd. Betts filed a lawsuit against Walden for nonpayment of record and publishing royalties, and Betts's lawyer, Steve Massarsky, began managing the group. Betts won the lawsuit, and the rest of the band filed suit while Capricorn declared bankruptcy that October. Massarsky led the successful effort to sign the band with Arista, which pushed the band to "modernize" their sound. "[Arista founder] Clive Davis destroyed any hope that we had that we could make the thing work again," said Trucks later. "He wanted us to be a Southern American version of Led Zeppelin and brought in outside producers and it just kept getting worse."


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Their first Arista effort, "Reach for the Sky" (1980), was produced by Nashville songwriters Mike Lawler and Johnny Cobb. Bonnie Bramlett, who toured with the band near the end of the decade, sang lead on one song. Lawler soon became a part of the band's touring ensemble, incorporating center-stage keytar solos "that most fans consider the band's nadir." Drugs remained a problem with the band, particularly among Betts and Allman. Although the album was made with the intention of creating a hit single, the genre of Southern rock was waning considerably in the mainstream. The band again grew apart, firing longtime roadie "Red Dog" and replacing Jaimoe with Toler's brother Frankie, who had been a member of Great Southern. The main point of contention was Jaimoe's insistence that his wife and manager, Candace Oakley (Berry's sister), handle his business affairs. "One of the real blights on the history of the Allman Brothers Band was that Jaimoe, this gentle man, was fired from this organization," said Allman later. Not long after, "the band changed managers, hiring the promoter John Scher after Massarsky eased himself out, reportedly saying, 'It's a million-dollar headache and a quarter-million-dollar job.'"


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: For their second and final album with Arista, "Brothers of the Road" (1981), they collaborated with a "name producer" (John Ryan, of Styx and the Doobie Brothers), who pushed the band even harder to change their sound. "Straight from the Heart" was the album's single, which became a minor hit but heralded the group's last appearance on the top 40 charts. The band, considering their post-reunion albums "embarrassing", subsequently broke up in 1982 after clashing with Clive Davis, who rejected every producer the band suggested for a possible third album, including Tom Dowd and Johnny Sandlin. "We broke up in '82 because we decided we better just back out or we would ruin what was left of the band's image," said Betts. The band's final performance came on "Saturday Night Live" in January 1982, where they performed "Southbound" and "Leavin. The members regrouped occasionally in the intervening years; in 1986, Betts and Allman toured together, with each opening for one another and collaborating for a set. The full Allman Brothers Band--Allman, Betts, Trucks, Jaimoe, Leavell and Dan Toler--also reunited twice in 1986 for the Volunteers Jam and Crackdown on Crack concerts. Allman's solo career began looking up when he released his first solo album in over a decade in 1987, "I'm No Angel". The title track became a surprise hit on radio, peaking at No. 49 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and No. 1 on the magazine's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The Allman Brothers Band celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 1989, and the band reunited for a summer tour, with Jaimoe once again on drums. In addition, they featured guitarist Warren Haynes and pianist Johnny Neel, both from the Dickey Betts Band, and bassist Allen Woody, who was hired after open auditions held at Trucks' Florida studio. The classic rock radio format had given the band's catalog songs new relevance, as did a multi-CD retrospective box set, "Dreams". Epic, who had worked with Allman on his solo career, signed the band. Danny Goldberg became the band's manager; he had previously worked with acts such as Led Zeppelin and Bonnie Raitt. The group were initially reluctant to tour, but found they performed solidly; in addition, former roadies such as "Red Dog" returned. The band returned to the studio with longtime producer Tom Dowd for 1990's "Seven Turns", which was considered a return to form. "Good Clean Fun" and "Seven Turns" each became big hits on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The addition of Haynes and Woody had "reenergized" the ensemble. Neel left the group in 1990, and the band added percussionist Marc Quiñones, formerly of Spyro Gyra, the following year.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The band performed 87 shows in 1991, and 77 the following year. The band did not renew Goldberg's contract as manager, and as a result, their tour manager, Bert Holman, became the band's full-time manager in 1991 and remained so for the rest of their career. Their next studio effort, "Shades of Two Worlds" (1992), produced the crowd favorite "Nobody Knows". The band also released a live album, "", recorded at their 1992 residency at New York's Beacon Theatre. The band performed ten consecutive shows there (establishing themselves as a "New York rite of spring", according to biographer Alan Paul), which set the stage for their return nearly every year afterward. The band grew contentious over a 1993 tour, in which Betts was arrested when he shoved two police officers. Struggling to find a replacement guitarist, they brought in David Grissom (then touring with John Mellencamp), and also Jack Pearson, a Nashville-based friend of Haynes (the original replacement, Zakk Wylde, filled in for a show but his onstage antics did not fit with the band). Haynes was both opening with his own band and headlining with the Allman Brothers, and began to consider leaving the group, due to their increasing lack of communication.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Despite the growing tension, Haynes remained a member and Betts returned. Their third post-reunion record, "Where It All Begins" (1994), was recorded entirely live on a film soundstage (without an audience). "The Allman Brothers was a year-by-year thing. There was no indication that it was capable of staying together for years to come. We all looked at it as each tour could be the last one, and there was no reason to think otherwise," said Haynes. The band continued to tour with greater frequency, attracting younger generations with their headlining of the H.O.R.D.E. Festival. The group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 1995; Allman was severely inebriated and could not make it through his acceptance speech. Seeing the ceremony broadcast on television later, Allman was mortified, providing a catalyst for his final, successful attempt to quit alcohol and substance abuse. During the 1996 run at the Beacon, turmoil came to a breaking point between Allman and Betts, nearly causing a cancellation of a show and causing another band breakup. "We were upstairs in our dressing rooms [...] I'm sitting there thinking, 'This is it. This is how it finally ends,'" said Trucks. Haynes and Woody left to focus on Gov't Mule, feeling as though a break was imminent with the Allman Brothers Band.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The group recruited Oteil Burbridge of the Aquarium Rescue Unit to replace Woody on bass, and Jack Pearson on guitar. Concerns arose over the increasing loudness of Allman Brothers shows, which were largely centered on Betts. Pearson, struggling with tinnitus, left as a result following the 1999 Beacon run. Trucks phoned his nephew, Derek Trucks, to join the band for their thirtieth anniversary tour. Trucks was very young, at age 20, and younger than any of the original members when the band formed. "It was an honor to be part of such a great institution from the start," said Derek Trucks. "When I first got the gig, I was just trying to maintain the spirit of the whole thing while hopefully bringing some fire to it, hoping to hold up my end while also expressing my own voice." The Beacon run in 2000, captured on "Peakin' at the Beacon", was ironically considered among the band's worst performances; an eight-show spring tour led to even more strained relations in the group. "It had ceased to be a band—everything had to be based around what Dickey was playing," said Allman. Anger boiled over within the group towards Betts, which led to all original members sending him a letter, informing him of their intentions to tour without him for the summer.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: All involved contend that the break was temporary, but Betts responded by hiring a lawyer and suing the group, which led to a permanent divorce. "I had no idea that I would be snapped out of the picture. I thought it was cruel and impersonal," said Betts. Allman was finally sober and felt more miserable shows with Betts would be a waste of time. Betts later received a cash settlement, which is subject to a confidentiality agreement; he went on to record new music with a new band. Jimmy Herring joined the band for the summer tour, where the band fought negative press; fans contended that attending shows by an Allman Brothers Band without Betts was pointless. Herring exited shortly after the tour, as he felt guilty that he would replace Betts. That August, former bassist Allen Woody was found dead in a hotel room in New York. Warren Haynes set up a benefit show for his former bandmate, which featured the Allman Brothers Band. With Derek Trucks unavailable, he sat in for the set. In 2001, Haynes rejoined the band for their Beacon run: "It was my first time with the band in four years and it was very comfortable," he remarked.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: This incarnation of the Allman Brothers Band was well-regarded among fans and the general public, and remained stable and productive. "This band is the greatest one since Duane and Berry, and why shouldn't it be?" said Jaimoe. The band released their final studio recording, "Hittin' the Note" (2003), to critical acclaim. The record was the first to feature Derek Trucks and the only Allman Brothers album to not feature Betts. The band continued to tour throughout the 2000s, remaining a top touring act, regularly attracting more than 20,000 fans. The decade closed with a successful run at the Beacon Theatre, in celebration of the band's fortieth anniversary. "That [2009 run] was the most fun I've ever had in that building," said Allman, and it was universally regarded within the band as a career highlight. The run featured numerous special guests, including Eric Clapton, whom all in the band regarded as the most "special" guest, due to his association with Duane. Allman had a liver transplant in 2010, and suffered health setbacks for the following two years. He went to rehab in 2012 for addiction following his medical treatments.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: David "Frankie" Toler (born David Wayne Toler on June 28, 1951) died at a hospice care in Bradenton, Florida on June 4, 2011 after a long illness following a liver transplant at the age of 59.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: In 2012, the Allman Brothers started their own music festival, The Peach, which features many associated acts and many genres in addition to two Allman Brothers performances. They played a run at the Beacon in 2013 per tradition and after continued to tour. In 2014, Haynes and Derek Trucks announced their intention to depart the group at the end of the year. The group intended their 2014 run of Beacon shows to be their last, but the residency was cut short when Allman developed bronchitis. However, in September 2014, the group played the iconic "At Fillmore East" album at the Lockn' music festival in Arrington, Virginia.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: In early 2014, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks announced that they would be leaving the band at the end of the year and the group decided to retire from touring. Gregg Allman stated, "This is it—this is the end of it. Forty-five years is enough and I want to do something else anyway." The Allman Brothers Band performed its final show on October 28, 2014 at the Beacon Theatre. The show was the 238th straight sellout for the band at the Beacon. The concert consisted of three sets, comprising mostly music from their first five records, with no guest musicians sitting in. "We had a band meeting and decided no guest sit-ins. We're going out with just the band," Allman told reporters. Following the sets, which ran into the early morning hours, the band joined together center stage and took a bow, with Allman recalling the group's first rehearsal 45 years prior: "I was called to come and meet these guys in Jacksonville, Florida, [...] on March 26, 1969. Now, we're gonna do the first song we ever played." Following this, the band performed "Trouble No More" by Muddy Waters. During the night's intermissions, a video screen displayed a message: "The road indeed goes on forever. So stay calm, eat a peach and carry on..."


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: In January 2017, founding member Butch Trucks died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. That May, founding member Gregg Allman died from complications arising from liver cancer at the age of 69, putting an end to any possibilities of a reunion.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: In January 2020, the five surviving members of the final Allman Brothers lineup, calling themselves the Brothers, announced their intentions to hold a show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band on March 10 at Madison Square Garden. The concert lasted over four hours, with Duane Trucks taking the place of his uncle on drums, proto-Allmans member Reese Wynans taking the place of Gregg Allman on organ, and Warren Haynes taking on Gregg Allman's vocal parts. In addition pianist and past member Chuck Leavell joined the band for about half the numbers played. (Dickey Betts was invited to participate but his health precluded him from traveling although he wished the event be successful.) Like the final Beacon show, the Brothers 50 concert was dominated by material from the group's first five albums. The show was one of the last large concerts to take place before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in North America forced the shutdown of such events; some people accordingly did not go to it, and indeed especially due to the older demographic of the group's fan base, Derek Trucks would subsequently wonder whether it had been wise to move forward with it.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The Allman Brothers Band have generally been considered one of the pioneering bands in Southern rock, although the group distanced itself from the term. Guitarist Dickey Betts was most vocal about this classification, which he considered unfair: "I think it's limiting. I'd rather just be known as a progressive rock band from the South. I'm damned proud of who I am and where I'm from, but I hate the term 'Southern rock.' I think calling us that pigeonholed us and forced people to expect certain types of music from us that I don't think are fair."


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Gregg Allman also saw the "Southern rock" tag as redundant, saying it was like saying "rock rock" due to rock and roll being born in the South. The band was certainly at the forefront of the genre's popularity in the early 1970s; the breakthrough of "At Fillmore East" led their hometown of Macon to become flooded with "Southern rock" groups. Despite this, the group has continued to remove itself from the term. "The problem I have is a lot of people associate it with rednecks and rebel flags and backward mentality. That has never been representative of the Allman Brothers Band," said guitarist Warren Haynes.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The group largely infused hints of the blues, jazz, and country into their music. They all avidly shared their record collections with one another during the early days of the band. For example, Betts was into country music and the guitar work of Chuck Berry, while Trucks was largely into groups such as the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead. Duane and Gregg Allman grew infatuated with rhythm and blues in their teens, collecting records by James Brown, B.B. King, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Howlin' Wolf. The brothers were also heavily influenced by guitarist Taj Mahal and his 1968 eponymous debut album. It was this influence that led both to their discovery of their now famous slide guitar style. Drummer Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson largely introduced the group to jazz. While Betts commented that he was interested in artists such as Howard Roberts prior, Jaimoe "really fired us up on it," introducing his bandmates to Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Duane Allman was also inspired by Howard Roberts, Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow, and Kenny Burrell. The source of the band's modal jamming in their earliest days was Coltrane's rendition of "My Favorite Things" and Davis' "All Blues", which Jaimoe occasionally stole from: "I did a lot of copying, but only from the best." This type of jazz-infused jamming is expressed in the instrumental "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", which focuses heavily on improvisation. "Whipping Post" was notable for its inclusion of blues-ballad themes, and became one of the most popular (and longest) compositions. Later, Betts generally led the band in a more "country" direction following Duane's passing; their only hit single "Ramblin' Man" was considered so unusually "country" for the group they were initially reluctant to record it.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: Duane Allman created the idea of having two lead guitarists, which was inspired by Curtis Mayfield; "[he] wanted the bass, keyboards, and second guitar to form patterns behind the solo rather than just comping," said Allman. Their style and incorporation of guitar harmonies was very influential on later musicians. "The pair also had a wide range of complementary techniques, often forming intricate, interlocking patterns with each other and with the bassist, Berry Oakley, setting the stage for dramatic flights of improvised melodies." Dickey Betts' playing was very melody-based; "My style is just a little too smooth and round to play the blues stuff straight, because I'm such a melody guy that even when I'm playing the blues, I go for melody first," he said. His listening of country and string bluegrass growing up influenced this considerably: "I played mandolin, ukulele, and fiddle before I ever touched a guitar, which may be where a lot of the major keys I play come from." He later characterized their style as "question and answer, anticipation and conclusion," which involved allowing each musician's downbeat to arrive in a different spot, while also keeping consideration of the bass guitar lines.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The group also held an improvisational approach to live performances, which connected the band with jam band culture. "Jazz and blues musicians have been doing this for decades, but I think they really brought that sense that anyone onstage can inspire anyone else at any given time to rock music," said Haynes. "We sure didn't set out to be a "jam band" but those long jams just emanated from within the band, because we didn't want to just play three minutes and be over," said Allman. "Rolling Stone" referred to the group as "without question the first great jam band, and they took the jam to heights that it had not previously reached."


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The Allman Brothers Band were considerably influential within the Southern United States. Their arrival on the musical scene paved the way for several other notable Southern rock bands—among those Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band and Wet Willie—to achieve commercial success, and also "almost single-handedly" made Capricorn Records into "a major independent label". Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, writing for "Rolling Stone", wrote that the group "defined the best of every music from the American South in that time. They were the best of all of us." He went on to call the band "a true brotherhood of players—one that went beyond race and ego. It was a thing of beauty." The band's extended popularity through heavy touring in the early 1990s created a new generation of fans, one that viewed the Allmans as pioneers of "latter-day collegiate jam rock".


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: AllMusic praised the band's history: "they went from being America's single most influential band to a shell of their former self trading on past glories, to reach the 21st century resurrected as one of the most respected rock acts of their era."


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: In 2012, an official historic marker was erected on the site of the July 1970 Second Atlanta International Pop Festival near Byron, Georgia. The Allman Brothers Band had played two sets at the festival, which was a significant event in their career. The marker text reads, in part: "Over thirty musical acts performed, including... Macon's Allman Brothers Band on their launching pad to national fame." Official sponsors of the marker included the Georgia Allman Brothers Band Association, The Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House, and "Hittin' the Note". In 2003, the band released a recording of their festival opening and closing performances, "".


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: In 2018, Devon Allman (son of Gregg Allman), Duane Betts (son of Dickey Betts), and Berry Duane Oakley (son of Berry Oakley) formed a band called the Allman Betts Band.


title: The Allman Brothers Band

text: The Allman Brothers Band placed more emphasis on their live performances rather than albums. "We get kind of frustrated doing the [studio] records," said Duane Allman in 1970. Consequently, this listing includes all studio albums and major live releases (several other live releases have been issued retrospectively).


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former football manager and player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. He was the manager of Arsenal from 1996 to 2018, where he was the longest-serving and most successful in the club's history. His contribution to English football through changes to scouting, players' training, and diet regimens revitalised Arsenal and aided the globalisation of the sport in the 21st century.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Born in Strasbourg and raised in Duttlenheim to an entrepreneurial family, Wenger was introduced to football by his father, the manager of the local village team. After a modest playing career, in which he made appearances for several amateur clubs, Wenger obtained a manager's diploma in 1981. Following an unsuccessful period at Nancy in 1987, Wenger joined Monaco; the club won the league championship in 1988. In 1991, Wenger guided Monaco to victory in the Coupe de France. In 1995, he moved to Japan to coach J.League side Nagoya Grampus Eight and won the Emperor's Cup and Japanese Super Cup in his first and only year.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger was named manager of Arsenal in 1996; his appointment was greeted with little enthusiasm from the English media and his players alike. In 1998, he became the first foreign manager to win a Premier League and FA Cup double. Wenger guided Arsenal to another league and cup double in 2002, and won his third league title in 2004, which earnt distinction as he guided his team to an undefeated domestic league season – something achieved only once before in English football, by Preston North End, 115 years previously. Arsenal later eclipsed Nottingham Forest's record of 42 league matches unbeaten and went seven more matches before losing in October 2004. Under him, the club made its first appearance in a Champions League final in 2006, though the team lost to Barcelona. Wenger oversaw Arsenal's relocation to the Emirates Stadium, and prioritised the club's finances in his second decade to meet costs. This coincided with a nine-year spell without winning a trophy, before Wenger guided Arsenal to further FA Cup successes in the 2010s; he holds the record for most wins in the competition with seven. He departed as manager in 2018.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: The nickname ""Le Professeur"" is used by fans and the English press to reflect Wenger's studious demeanour. He is one of the most celebrated managers of his generation, having changed perceptions of the sport and profession in England and abroad. His approach to the game emphasises an attacking mentality, with the aim that football ought to be entertaining on the pitch. Wenger's Arsenal teams were criticised for their indiscipline and naivety; his players received 100 red cards between September 1996 and February 2014, though the team won awards for sporting fair play. At Monaco, Wenger earned a reputation for spotting young talent and developing a youth system, which he carried through at Arsenal.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger was born on 22 October 1949 in Strasbourg, Alsace, the youngest of three children born to Alphonse and Louise Wenger. He lived in Duppigheim during the 1950s, but spent most of his time in the neighbouring village of Duttlenheim, south-west of Strasbourg. Arsène's father, Alphonse, like many Alsatians, was conscripted into the German Army by force following Germany's earlier annexation of the French region of Alsace-Lorraine. He was sent to fight on the Eastern Front in October 1944, at the age of 24.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: The Wenger family owned an automobile spare parts business and a bistro titled "La Croix d'Or". In his book, "My Life in Red and White", Wenger says the "alcohol, brawling and violence" of the bistro's patrons sparked his early interest in human psychology. His parents had difficulty looking after their children, but Duttlenheim was a village where everyone took care of the young; Wenger compared it in later years to a kibbutz. Before Wenger started school, he expressed himself in the local Alsatian dialect of Low Alemannic German. The primary school which Wenger attended was run by the Catholic Church, and as one of its brightest students, he later was accepted into a secondary school in Obernai.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: According to his father, who also managed the village team, Wenger was introduced to football "at about the age of six". He was taken to games in Germany, where he held an affection for Borussia Mönchengladbach. Alsace was an area steeped in religion; Wenger and the village boys often needed to seek permission from the Catholic priest to miss vespers in order to play football.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Because the population of Duttlenheim was short in numbers, it proved difficult to field a team of 11 players of equal ages; Wenger did not play for FC Duttlenheim until the age of 12. Claude Wenger, a teammate of Arsène's, noted his lack of pace as a player, which he made up for with his "ability to guard the ball, [seeming] to have a complete vision of the pitch and having an influence among his team-mates", according to Marcel Brandner, the president of FC Duttlenheim. As a young teenager, he was called "Petit"; the nickname ceased when he had a growth spurt and broke into FC Duttlenheim's first team, aged 16. The team did not have a coach to prepare the players tactically, rather a person who supervised training sessions. Wenger took it upon himself to manage the side, with Claude stating "Arsène wasn't the captain and yet he was. It was 'You do this, you do that, you do this, you do that.' He was the leader".


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In 1969 Wenger was recruited to nearby third division club Mutzig. The club was famed for playing the "best amateur football" in Alsace and managed by Max Hild, who would later go on to become Wenger's mentor. Wenger's emergence at Mutzig aged 20 was considered too late for him to build a reputable playing career. Football was not seen as his future; the plan was for him to run the family's spare parts business. He was, however, of the age to start increasing his tactical knowledge of the sport. He frequently read "France Football" and alongside Hild made trips to Germany to watch Bundesliga matches and observe the different managerial styles. During Wenger's three years at Mutzig, the club beat RC Strasbourg 3–0 to win the Coupe d'Alsace. He also represented Alsace in a competition held annually between the regional leagues.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger took his studies further, and in 1971 enrolled at the (Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences) at the University of Strasbourg to read politics and economics after a brief stint in medicine. In 1973 he joined semi-professional club Mulhouse and balanced his football career with his education. Wenger completed an economics degree a year later. He was selected to represent the national French students squad and visited Nigeria, Lebanon, and Uruguay – where the World Students Championship was held in 1976. Wenger did not participate in the event as he was injured; Jean-Luc Arribart, captain of the team recalled: "By the end of that trip, Arsène had almost taken on the role of assistant coach and team joker rolled into one."


title: Arsène Wenger

text: At Mulhouse, Wenger was managed by Paul Frantz, who also had a profound impact on his career. It was he who formalised Wenger's beliefs on the importance of nutrition, isometrics and working on a player's strong points. Wenger played in midfield for Mulhouse, often positioned on the right. In their final game of the 1974–75 season, the club beat AS Nancy to avoid relegation, but shortly afterwards, Frantz resigned. Wenger also made the decision to leave, as the regular commutes to Mulhouse from Strasbourg overwhelmed him. In 1975, he rekindled his friendship with Hild and signed for amateur club ASPV Strasbourg (Vauban). Hild needed a midfielder "who could organise play and also have a sort of hold over the team" and decided to recruit Wenger. Vauban was formed in 1971, and made steady progress up the French football league system thereafter; Wenger's three seasons at the club culminated with promotion to the third division.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: In 1978, Hild joined RC Strasbourg as coach of the reserve team. The role required him to scout, so Hild wanted an experienced player to work with the youth while he was away. Both Hild and Frantz recommended Wenger, which convinced manager Gilbert Gress to appoint him. Wenger's playing career at the age of 28 began to wane, but he never anticipated a role in the first team. Working for RC Strasbourg, however, presented him his first full-time job at the club he supported as a young boy. Hild moved Wenger from midfield to central defence, where he was positioned as a sweeper in reserve games. In November 1978, he made his debut for the first team against MSV Duisburg in the UEFA Cup (a match Strasbourg lost 4–0) and a month later, Wenger played against champions AS Monaco in the First Division. At the end of the 1978–79 season, RC Strasbourg won the league; Wenger did not join in the celebrations as he was preoccupied with the youth team. He made his final appearance for the senior side in 1979.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger spent the last two years of his playing career predominantly running RC Strasbourg's reserve and youth team. He became conscious of the importance of speaking English, and during his holidays enrolled on a three-week language course at the University of Cambridge. Wenger also studied for his coaching badge at the (CREPS) in Strasbourg – this consisted of a course to coach children, followed by an intensive six-day course which led up to the national coaching badge. The latter programme took place in Vichy, and was spread over three weeks, allowing Wenger to be able to put Frantz's teachings of isometrics into practice. In 1981, he received his manager's diploma in Paris.


title: Arsène Wenger

text: Wenger's management skills at Strasbourg impressed many French coaches, and he moved to Ligue 2 club Cannes in 1983, where he became Jean-Marc Guillou's assistant. Earning a steady wage of £300 per week, he was responsible for collecting information about opposition teams, and instilled discipline in the players through training sessions. Wenger's commitment to football was well documented; when asked what the young coach did during his spare time, general manager Richard Conte replied: "Videos, videos, videos. He was always watching videos of his opponents, of his own team. It didn't matter what time of night." Cannes failed to win promotion to Ligue 1, but they reached the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France. Wenger's work in raising the standard of the squad did not go unnoticed, and in 1984, he accepted Aldo Platini's offer to become manager of Nancy.