Meanings
- A theory of literary criticism developed in the United States around 1900 by Irving Babbitt and Paul Elmer More, opposing Romanticism and emphasizing the moral and spiritual content of literary masterpieces.
1 more example
Similarly, early twentieth-century US-American New Humanism—led by Irving Babbitt and Paul Elmer More—berates American culture and education. New Humanism's basis are the literary and social theories of English poet and critic Matthew Arnold, who seeks to evoke the moral quality of past civilizations, “the best that has been thought and said,” in an age of materialism, industrialization, and relativism.
2021, Anthony B. Pinn, editor, The Oxford Handbook of Humanism, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 303
Cite this entry
New Humanism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/New%20Humanism
“New Humanism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/New%20Humanism. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “New Humanism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/New%20Humanism.
Source: New Humanism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.