The purpose of this contribution is to consider what the significance of the new discussion taking place around humanism is for the ways in which we think about development and education. It attempts to hold the idea of development in a frame in which we can think more constructively and less instrumentally about the place of education within it. It attempts a restatement of the idea of development that draws on the consensus about its meaning that is emerging out of the SDGs, and that also brings to bear the discussion concerning new humanism. What is this "new humanism?" the article asks. What is it a response to? To what are scholars and commentators in the development arena, particularly people such as Hans d'Orville, reacting in their emphasis on the urgency of the moment?