Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over established doctrine or faith (fideism).

Affectology and its clinical variants have great regard for the 'language' of affective neuroscience - that is, the conceptual language, or the way in which affective growth of the individual is explained - but bases most of its clinical method on humanistic commonsense.

In neuroscience, explanations about the human subconscious have never seemed to be a 'comfortable fit', with scientists speaking in hushed voices about something they can't quantify. This, then, is the place for humanistic thought and philosophy in Affectological terms. Humanism started its journey a thousand years BC in Greece and China, as philosophers sought to create a human identity that was focused on attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters.

Contemporary Humanism entails a qualified optimism about the capacity of people, but it does not involve believing that human nature is purely good or that all people can live up to the Humanist ideals without help. If anything, there is recognition that living up to one's potential is hard work and requires the help of others. The ultimate goal is human flourishing; making life better for all humans, and as the most conscious species, also promoting concern for the welfare of other sentient beings and the planet as a whole. The focus is on doing good and living well in the here and now, and leaving the world a better place for those who come after.

WHAT HAS THIS TO DO WITH AFFECTOLOGY?

Everything ... it's about living up to one's potential; flourishing and living well in the here and now. For instance, nowhere in the science literature can be found the notion that is so important to affectology; and that is, "as a matter of subconscious dynamic, anything that has been learned in the past can be re-learned, given new information and new realization."

But this and other formative ideals of affectology (including the dynamics of mindfulness and self-attention) can still be explained with, and embraced by, the language of affective neuroscience.

Further, whereas Contemporary Humanism entails a qualified optimism about the capacity of people, it does, by default, entail a qualified pessimism about the capacity of external forces or agencies having wisdom for people that is, in any case, inherent and "in place" in the subconscious. In this context, "external forces" may include unnecessary or excessive medication, and it may also mean the imposition of "analytical therapies."

The form of Secular Humanism that devotes itself to abnegation of established religions and deistic faith in favor of human agency has little relevance to affectology EXCEPT to say that we could view Western Medicine and Pharmaceutical interests as being tantamount to a "religion" in the 21st Century, and with this view, affectology adopts a dismissive view of these "modern day religions" as being tantamount to "divine."

The "existential humanism" of affectology says, "you can heal and improve yourself far more expertly than any exterior agency."