It is considered to be that humanity is a love for the person, recognition primary the values, general for each person, respect for each member of society, without paying attention to his religion and national identity. However this understanding is too simplified.
Such reasonings on humanity are not absolutely fair. It is worth being set by the answer to such question: whether our perception of an image of an elephant will be correct if we try to make it on the basis of the description only of its trunk submitted to us? Most likely, what is not present. Here is also with humanity – all dictionaries and if to take any person in particular, give definition in fact true. Humanity can really be perceived as the theory about life, imbued virtue and respect for the dignity of each person and care of human well-being. All is right, but it is not enough. Similar definition of humanity is made too narrower, one-sidedly and superficially. In fact humanity is not only the theory, but also the most real practice of public life and life of certain individuals – a core and driving force of spiritual development and scientific and technical progress of human society. And, of course, humanity is a basis of all rights of human society: economic and cultural, political and civil. Humanity is not only outlook. Most material and social progress has a direct bearing on it. Society has to be open for perception of changes and innovations, to have interest in activity of scientists and inventors and the embodiment in life of their plans and the ideas. Such society is called civil in case it opposes to development, it is called traditionalist. Humanity reveals the best in the person, and seeks to make this the best property of all. Therefore one of the basic principles of humanity – each person has the advantage which is estimable and and it should be protected. Everything that separates people, various barriers and prejudices recede into the background when in operation the above-stated principles. That is why claim that humanity – indissoluble unity of scientific vision of the world, positive style of thinking, philanthrophy and practice of creation of cultural values. Humanity arose in Renaissance in the course of fight against feudal and religious dogmatics. The humanistic ideas had special distribution in Italy - J. Boccaccio, Lorenzo Balla, F. Petrarch, Michelangelo, Pikodella Mirandola, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, etc. In other European countries it is possible to allocate figures of the Reformation — the French M. Montaigne, representatives of Spain F. Rabelais, L. Vives, M. Cervantes, great German humanists U. Gutten, A. Duerer, W. Shakespeare, F. Bacon (England). Further the ideas of humanity underwent the development during bourgeois various revolutions and are perfected, evolve to this day.