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I am looking for one word that is explained as "the belief in the good nature of humankind". It is not philanthropy or humanitarianism; rather, I am looking for one word to describe one's belief in philanthropists.

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The perpetual-optimist fictional character that immediately comes to mind is Pollyanna, but I'm not sure how to turn her name into a belief system -- Pollyannaism? –  JPmiaou May 25 '11 at 4:37
<tongue-in-cheek>Does 'gullible' suffice?</tongue-in-cheek> –  Andrew Thompson May 25 '11 at 5:36
I was thinking 'gullible' or 'deluded'. :) –  thursdaysgeek May 25 '11 at 21:52
Or naïve perhaps? ;-) –  Zano Jul 1 '11 at 16:02

5 Answers 5

up vote 3 down vote accepted

I suggest "humanism." Various dictionaries define it in roughly-similar ways, but Merriam-Webster has this:


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Thanks, I think this is the closest match to what I want. Reading wuthering heights, the book talks about this. –  peia May 25 '11 at 12:20

"Optimist" is the first that comes to mind, but is not specific about humankind.

How about "Rousseauian"?

Also, my personal favorite, "naiveté"

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You might say someone like that is Panglossian:

Pan·gloss·i·an (pn-gls-n, -glôs-, png-) adj. Blindly or naively optimistic.

The term comes from a character in Voltaire's Candide, which "begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply Optimism) by his mentor, Pangloss."

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+1 for Pangloss. That's the one I was actually looking for. –  Alain Pannetier Φ May 25 '11 at 8:59

I'll propose benevolence.

The primary definition of the OED for this word is:

benevolence: Disposition to do good, desire to promote the happiness of others, kindness, generosity, charitable feeling (as a general state or disposition towards mankind at large).

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■ It would be a dangerous and biased way to use "humanism" in that case. Humanism is mainly define by the fact of giving price to human life. If you attach the concept of humanism to the belief that human nature is innately "good", then you threaten the core value of humanism (this belief about human nature has been badly shaken by science since the 80's). Giving price to life doesn't imply the need of a "good" human nature (cf. the is–ought problem). The same apply to "benevolence" as it could merely be a learning and not an innate state.

■ "Naivety" or "optimism" are subjective and thus are more interpretations than definition of "belief in the good nature of humankind”

I suggest "Rousseauian" (like JeffSahol) which is based on the "Noble savage" belief:

Rousseau believed that "nothing is more gentle than man in his primitive state".

This belief is link to what is called a "naturalistic fallacy" and more precisely an "appeal to nature".

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