Philosophy can help us in this time of crisis
They are not in the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic. But philosophers have a role to play.
I love to read. Ergo: I buy books. And I got loads of them. I just love being around them. Books. Knowledge. Viewpoints. Theories.
And then the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
One might say I have plenty of time to read now. The problem is that everything I read seems to be so useless. Utterly useless. I don’t know why. There appears to be a pre-corona- and post corona-time, especially when I read stuff on Critical Theory, political analysis, economics, climate change, and so on. Everything has changed. The coronavirus pandemic throws up fundamental political, ethical, and existential questions. How can philosophers help in this hour of need?
One way to think about the pandemic is in terms of humanity coming together to fight a natural threat in the form of a virus. Most of us panic when being confronted with these sorts of dangers: isolation, illness, or anxiety.
Philosophy can help. As a public practice, it is not a service that an academic brings. It is more than that. It is, and remains, “a reciprocal process of theory and practice (or praxis).” That’s what I always loved about philosophy. It can be a useful toolbox that makes you understand how things work. Honestly, it does. For me, philosophy is an internal technology of the mind.
That’s why it can be useful in understanding what is going on right now. In 2020, in full COVID-19-pandemic-mode. We are witnessing one of the greatest crises my generation (Millennial) has ever seen. That’s something. We need answers. Guidance. Perspective.
Think bigger
I haven’t read any contemporary thinker or theorist that gave me a profound answer on what to do, what to expect, where we are going. Yet. Most of them take the COVID-19-Pandemic to perpetuate their ideas and thought. We need to think bigger. No recent book provides answers to the fundamental questions I have. It’s weird, standing in front of my bookcase and thinking: “Well, most of these books don’t matter anymore.” It’s a funny feeling.
Yet, there is one group of thinkers that do help me out: The Classics — the Great Canon. I don’t know why.
Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan), J-J Rousseau (Social Contract), Aristotle (Zoon Politikon) have already given me more perspective and answers than Paul Mason, Bruno Latour, Ann Petiffor, Mariana Mazzucato or Kate Raworth.
The epidemic forces us all to ask ourselves deep questions about human existence. These sorts of problems are so profound. The most significant philosophers have previously answered them. The greats come in handy this day and age.
Corona teaches us a lot about ourselves. What is right, what is wrong? What can we expect from society, our politicians, our leaders, and what can we do for them? Challenging questions, complicated answers. Is it just to set economic limits to fight a deadly disease? Ethical issues like, when the crisis hits, ‘who do we keep alive’?
Stay put, #StayInside
That is when someone like Aristotle — the ancient Greek polymath and acknowledged founding father of political science — comes in handy. Humans beings are “political animals” (Aristot. Pol. 1.1253a). He characterized humankind as a distinctively “political animal” (zoon politikon). Since he coined the term almost 2400 years (!) ago, theorists ever since have used his evocative name as a touchstone.
Society is more than just a collection of individuals. Even more, being a part of the polis means we are animals in need of social contact, social good, communities. That’s why isolation weighs so heavily on us. Imprisonment, as in being intentionally detached from society, is a severe punishment for one. Not-belonging. Not-being-part-of. It’s hard. That is why so many people find it so hard to #StayInside.
Philosophers that hated it to stay inside were the Stoics. The name “Stoicism” derives from the Stoa Poikile, or “painted porch.” It was a colonnade decorated with mythic and historical battle scenes, on the north side of the Agora in beautiful Athens. Stoic-founder Zeno and his followers gathered there to discuss their ideas. Stoicism is a deep philosophical framework, useful in providing an ethical scaffold for both everyday life and in times of difficulty.
How do they approach the world? Accept the moment as it presents itself. Do not allow to be controlled by the desire for pleasure, fear of pain. Use the mind to understand the world. Think for yourself. Work together. Treat others fairly and just. Stoics welcomed hard times. They trained for moments such as the one we are in now. Stoics prized rational thinking, acting on useful information, and contemplating the situation entirely rather than acting rashly or from a place of panic and anxiety. In this day-and-#fakenews-age, a beneficial attribute. Ancient stoicism as a modern-day coping mechanism, why not?
Of Monsters and Men
Here in Belgium, people start to find it pretty hard to #StayInside. It makes people revolt, do as they please. It means that everyone starts a sort of battle with everyone. On the street, online, in the media. Opinion-battle is everywhere. Call it: a war of all against all. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes is well-known for this.
In his most famous work, Leviathan, Hobbes set out his doctrine of the foundation of states and legitimate governments and creating an objective science of morality. Much of the book occupies with demonstrating the necessity of a strong central authority to avoid the evil of discord and civil war. Hobbes used to live in a time of political turmoil and crisis. The world was changing under his eyes.
Hobbes famously asks himself the question of what life would be like without government. He names it: state of nature. Each person would have a right to everything in the world, which would lead to an all-out war. There is no room for compromise — a war of all against all. Without control, we tend to glide into a state of conflict. But, we have something that gives purpose: a community creates a feeling of belonging. That is the most crucial aspect of our daily life now — this feeling of belonging. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic unveils a bargain between our liberty and collective choice.
The ineptness of this battle, this trade-off, is often obscured by the democratic imperative to seek consensus. Here, in Belgium, we are well-known for our diplomatic way of making agreements. This democratic imperative to seek consensus might well be under pressure. The people demand compelling policy-makers. They don’t want to see squabbling politicians, perpetuating their ideas, and believes. That can be dangerous. The boldest can become the most powerful. But autocratic power is always on the lurk.
Power and community
Coronavirus has revealed the nature of power. We give power to our governments. It is their moral and political duty to exercise these powers accordingly. It brings about the question of power. This crisis has revealed some hard truths. A robust national government matters, and it does matter which one you happen to find yourself under. The impact of the disease is significantly shaped by decisions taken by individual governments. I am glad to live in Belgium, a country with public health care, social security, and a sort of honest media.
In most of the Western-European countries, individual rights count, but not more than community norms. Which I think is a good thing. It is about how we live together in community, the ethical ideals we strive for. Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor and American philosopher Michael Sandel wrote some pretty smart things about it.
Philosophy, hope
We are all deprived of life in a community. But there is hope. Every evening, at 8 PM, people in Belgium applaud to our national health service, the people in health care. We hang white sheets from our windows to support the nurses, doctors, and other personnel.
These are seen as bedrocks of society. Yes, today, this is our moral and public duty. And it is within these ethical boundaries that philosophy or a school of thought can guide you.
As you can see, there are plenty of schools of thought that can help you get trough. Philosophy can guide us. Help us. Explain things. Questions about government, individual choice, freedom, anxiety, data, power, or isolation: you will always have a philosopher as an answer.
