Readers,
A caveat: I am nowhere near the most well-read science fiction fan in the world. I have read many of the classics including Asimov's Foundation Saga, Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land", the first few offerings in Herbert's "Dune" series, and Card's "Ender's Game". The same goes for tv shows and movies--I have not watched much past the socially "required" offerings. But that being said, it does seem that the most interesting and thoughtful additions to this genre are ones in which philosophy takes a front seat. Typically, a catastrophe (nuclear war, disease, supervolcano) has befallen the human species or even our entire planet, and it is up to the characters to make sense of their new reality. New problems arise, and with them new solutions. The great questions, many philosophers have said, the only real questions, are once again examined: What is our meaning? What does it mean to live a good life? How do we create a fair and just world? And the story is off and running. The creators of these stories have invented calamity, new worlds, even new species, really to once examine the great questions of life.
The human species is again at a time of great reckoning. This is not the first, and this is not even the most terrifying. It is simply the new. We have had two global wars, the threat of nuclear annihilation, pandemics, genocide. This new virus will not spell the end of humanity. This new virus will take thousands of human lives, it will upend the economy, it will bring to the surface problems that we would prefer to continue to ignore. This virus has no inherent meaning, no message, no reason, except for what we make of it.
We are living through the very real beginning of a science-fiction scenario. In a 300 page novel, what has happened thus far would only be the first fifteen pages. The tragedy, the anxiety, the uncertainty. The unsung heroes, finally being celebrated (nurses, grocery store clerks, gas station attendants). The artists, doing what they have always done, creating in spite of all odds. The good politicians, doing their utmost to solve this problem in spite of an increasingly broken system, and the bad politicians, taking advantage of the situation for a little insider trading.
The rest of this novel is unwritten. What is for certain, is that the end will be different than the beginning. The prequel to this novel will come out a little later, perhaps in the form of history books. Through reading this, we will remember that forests had been dying from carbon dioxide, cattle ranching, and invasive species. We will remember that the waters had been polluted from microplastics. We will remember that the promise of democratic institutions had been derailed by runaway capitalism in the form of kleptocracy and multinational corporations. We will remember that religions had been taken over by extremists and bad faith actors. The list goes on. In other words, this virus has not entered the Garden of Eden.
So, the biggest question of the big questions in most of these science-fiction stories is this: what do you want the world to look like? Not a question asked out of fear or desperation, but a question asked out of hope. Philosophers have asked this question for centuries, and institutions have arisen from many of these very philosophies, but our institutions have forgotten their purpose. Perhaps new philosophies need to be invented, and new institutions need to arise. Or perhaps old philosophies need to be remembered in order to reorient the institutions that already exist. More likely, a combination of the two.
I'll start with a couple of answers, and over the next couple of months, see where these answers might take me, and where they might take you, the reader.
#1: I would like to live in a world with clean air, water, soil, and healthy biodiversity.
#2: I would like to live in a world where humans have equal access to healthy food, clean water, good health care, and education.
In this blog, I will be looking at some of the great philosophers that I have been exposed to in my life, and how their thinking could be practically applied to meet these goals. As a non-philosopher, but very interested thinker, it will be my attempt to correctly represent their ideas as best as I can, while recognizing that at the same time, that I am, in all likelihood, (slightly) twisting their thoughts in order to fit my own present needs. I hope they (and you) will forgive this.
Stay well.
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