Comparing Buddhism and Humanism on the transcendent, the human person and social responsibility: HSC Studies of Religion II

What this dot point is asking

The last part of the Religion and Non-Religion study (Studies of Religion II only) asks for "the response of ONE religious and ONE non-religious belief system to: the concept of the transcendent; the human person; social responsibility", and asks you to compare those responses.

This page uses Buddhism as the religious belief system and Humanism as the non-religious one. It is a popular and rewarding pair because it is harder than it looks. Buddhism has no creator God, values reason and experience, and teaches self-reliance, so students sometimes conclude that it is "basically Humanism". It is not. The comparison earns top marks when you show exactly where the two agree (no creator God, testing beliefs, human responsibility, compassion) and exactly where they part (Nibbana, kamma and rebirth, not-self).

For the same method applied to a theistic religion, see Christianity and Humanism. For Humanism itself, see Rational and Scientific Humanism.

The answer

Framing the two belief systems

Buddhism began with Siddhattha Gotama, the Buddha, in northern India in about the fifth century BCE. It teaches the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as the way to end suffering (dukkha) and reach Nibbana. It has three major traditions, Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana (Tibetan), which differ in emphasis. At the 2021 Census, 2.4% of Australians identified as Buddhist (ABS).

Humanism is a non-religious worldview whose defining statement is the Amsterdam Declaration of Humanists International (1952, updated 2002 and 2022). Humanists International's Minimum Statement on Humanism defines it as "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". At the 2021 Census, 38.9% of Australians reported no religion; not all are humanists, but Humanism offers many a framework for meaning.

Why this pair needs care. Buddhism is often described as a "philosophy" or "way of life". For the HSC, treat it as what it is for most of its adherents: a religious tradition with sacred texts, rituals, a monastic community, devotion and a transcendent goal. The comparison is only fair if each is described as its own adherents understand it.

Criterion 1: the concept of the transcendent

The transcendent is a reality beyond the ordinary physical world and everyday experience. For many religions this is God; for Buddhism it is not.

The Buddhist response

• No creator God. Buddhism does not teach a God who created the universe and judges humanity. The Buddha set aside speculation about ultimate origins as not conducive to liberation. Gods (devas) appear in the texts, but they live within samsara: powerful, long-lived, yet impermanent and not creators.
• Nibbana, the unconditioned. Buddhism still affirms a transcendent reality. In the Udana the Buddha says: "There is, mendicants, freedom from rebirth, freedom from what has been produced, made, and conditioned. If there were no freedom from rebirth ... then you would find no escape here" (Udana 8.3, trans. Sujato). Nibbana is described as beyond birth, death and all conditioned things: "no bliss higher than the peace" (Dhammapada 202).
• Kamma and rebirth. Actions shape future lives across a beginningless cycle (samsara). These are not scientifically testable claims about the natural world, which is why Buddhism counts as a religious worldview.
• Mahayana and Vajrayana. Many Buddhists pray to and venerate transcendent Buddhas and bodhisattvas, such as Amitabha in Pure Land Buddhism and Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), and speak of the Buddha-nature present in all beings.
• Experience, not blind faith. The Buddha told the Kalamas: "don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture ... or by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.' When you know for yourselves that, 'These qualities are unskillful ...' then you should abandon them" (AN 3.65, trans. Thanissaro). The transcendent is to be realised, not merely believed.

The humanist response

• No supernatural. Humanism "is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality" (Minimum Statement). There is no God, soul, rebirth or afterlife.
• Reason and evidence. "We are convinced that the solutions to the world's problems lie in human reason, and action" (Amsterdam Declaration 2022). Knowledge "can be won only through a continuing process of observation, learning, and rethinking", and humanist views "are not based on revelations fixed for all time".
• Wonder without the supernatural. Humanists "cherish the beauty of the natural world and its potential to bring wonder, awe, and tranquility" (Amsterdam 2022). A Buddhist meditator's calm and a humanist's awe may feel similar; they are interpreted differently.

Comparing the responses

The key similarity: neither believes in a creator God, and both invite people to test beliefs for themselves. The key difference: Buddhism's path leads beyond the conditioned world to Nibbana; Humanism's stays within the natural world. This is why the 2025 HSC statement "Religious worldviews acknowledge the concept of the transcendent" is true of Buddhism too.

Criterion 2: the human person

The Buddhist response

• Not-self (anatta). A person is made of five changing aggregates (khandhas): form, feeling, perception, choices and consciousness. None is a permanent self: "Mendicants, form is not-self", and one should see each aggregate with right understanding as "'This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self'" (SN 22.59, trans. Sujato). Clinging to a fixed self is a root of suffering.
• A precious human birth. In the simile of the blind turtle, a human birth is as rare as a blind turtle, surfacing once every hundred years, putting its neck through a single yoke floating on the ocean (SN 56.48). Human life is the best opportunity to practise the Dhamma.
• Responsible for oneself. "One truly is the protector of oneself; who else could the protector be?" (Dhammapada 160). "You yourselves must strive; the Buddhas only point the way" (Dhammapada 276). No God saves; each person walks the path.
• The problem and the potential. The person suffers because of craving and the three poisons (greed, hatred, delusion), but every person can become enlightened. Mahayana adds that all beings possess Buddha-nature.
• Destiny. Kamma shapes rebirth; the goal is Nibbana, the ending of rebirth.

The humanist response

• Part of nature. "We recognise that we are part of nature" (Amsterdam 2022). The person is a natural, evolved being; there is no soul and no rebirth.
• Dignity and freedom. "We affirm the worth and dignity of the individual and the right of every human to the greatest possible freedom and fullest possible development compatible with the rights of others" (Amsterdam 2022).
• Self-made meaning. Humans "have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives" (Minimum Statement). "Personal development through the cultivation of creative and ethical living is a lifelong undertaking" (Amsterdam 2022).
• One life. Fulfilment must be found here and now; humanists "value all sources of individual joy and fulfillment that harm no other".

Comparing the responses

Similarity: both put responsibility for moral growth on the person, not on a God, and both value reason and experience. Difference: Humanism celebrates the flourishing of the individual self in one life; Buddhism sees attachment to self as the problem and looks beyond this life.

Criterion 3: social responsibility

The Buddhist response

• The precepts. The Five Precepts (no killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech or intoxicants) protect others as well as the practitioner.
• The brahmaviharas. Loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. The Metta Sutta asks the practitioner to cherish "all living beings" "with a boundless heart".
• Generosity (dana) and right livelihood. Giving is the first of the traditional perfections; right livelihood excludes trades that harm others, such as dealing in weapons.
• Duties in society. The Sigalovada Sutta (Digha Nikaya 31) sets out reciprocal duties between parents and children, teachers and students, spouses, friends, employers and workers.
• Engaged Buddhism. Twentieth-century teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh applied mindfulness and compassion to war, poverty and the environment; Buddhist organisations run hospitals, disaster relief and education (for example the Tzu Chi Foundation in Taiwan).
• The bodhisattva ideal (Mahayana): vowing to seek awakening for the sake of all beings.

The humanist response

• Morality from human nature. Morality is "grounded in the ability of living things to suffer and flourish, motivated by the benefits of helping and not harming, enabled by reason and compassion, and needing no source outside of humanity" (Amsterdam 2022).
• Liberty with duty. "Personal liberty must be combined with a responsibility to society. A free person has duties to others, and we feel a duty of care to all of humanity, including future generations, and beyond this to all sentient beings" (Amsterdam 2022).
• Rights and democracy. Humanists "support peace, democracy, the rule of law, and universal legal human rights" and "reject all forms of racism and prejudice".
• Science for well-being. "We seek to use science and technology to enhance human well-being, and never callously or destructively."

Comparing the responses

The key similarity: this is where the pair overlaps most. Both extend concern beyond humans to all sentient beings, both reject harming others, and both see social responsibility as benefiting society (the answer to 2024 HSC Q14). The key difference: for Buddhists, compassion is part of a spiritual path shaped by kamma and aimed at liberation; for humanists, it is chosen by reason and compassion for this world alone.

The whole comparison at a glance

A nuance for top bands. Some Western "secular Buddhists" (for example Stephen Batchelor in Buddhism Without Beliefs, 1997) set aside rebirth and treat the Dhamma as a naturalistic practice, which brings them close to Humanism. Most Buddhists in Asia and in Australia's Buddhist communities regard rebirth and Nibbana as essential. Mentioning this diversity, and saying which form of Buddhism you are describing, shows sophistication.

In one sentence

Buddhism and Humanism agree in rejecting a creator God, in asking people to test beliefs by experience and in extending compassion to all sentient beings, but they divide on the transcendent and the human person, because Buddhism teaches not-self, kamma, rebirth and liberation into Nibbana, "freedom from what has been produced, made, and conditioned", while Humanism affirms the dignity of the individual living one natural life whose meaning it shapes for itself.

Try this

Q1. Outline ONE difference between Buddhism and Humanism in their response to the transcendent. (2 marks)

• What the marker wants. Nibbana, kamma and rebirth versus no supernatural reality, with one supporting detail.

Q2. Explain how Buddhism responds to the concept of the human person. (4 marks)

• What the marker wants. Anatta and the five aggregates, precious human birth, self-reliance on the path, and destiny (rebirth and Nibbana), with a text.

Q3. Compare the response of Buddhism and Humanism to social responsibility. (5 marks)

• What the marker wants. Similarities (compassion, all sentient beings, benefit to society) and differences (motive, authority, horizon), with evidence from both and a judgement.