“One of the things that’s really striking about philosophy is how interesting and insightful some of the philosophers of the past still are for the present, so it’s still interesting to look at Aristotle, still interesting to look at Rousseau, or Nietzsche today and think about despite the internet, despite the social changes, how many things they said still resonate …. I don’t think it’s obvious we’ve progressed, i just think we’re responding to a different situation.” — Nigel Warburton, Philosophy Bites podcast
I was listening to an old episode of Philosophy Bites last night, when Nigel Warburton, who was being interviewed by David Edmonds about his book, said the words quoted above. My ears perked up, simply because I think it is so true. Plato already covered everything , especially in political philosophy. As Alfred North Whitehead said, “All of Western philosophy is but a footnote to Plato.”
And it made me think about how there’s really nothing new in how we respond to current situations. For sometime now people have been complaining and/or worrying about how smartphones and social media are making humans less social. Time will tell if they truly make us less social, but remember when many articles were written about television ruining family relationships as each member had their own TV and were not talking as much as before they had the TV? The TV is still around, and there are still families who are together. Although it is true that people are always on their phone, they still find time to hang out with families and friends. People still try to reach out and meet in person — at least my family, friends, relatives, co-workers do. And judging from the photos in my social media, there are many people who enjoy spending time with other people.
Going back farther in time, Socrates thought writing was not good for the memory. But now people actually think that writing by hand helps us remember better than typing does. Maybe in the not so distant future, somebody will argue that typing is better than dictation, and dictation is better than the next invention.
I used to worry a lot about what the world would be like when the younger generation have become so self-absorbed and apathetic about certain things. But then I remember my mother’s generation and how worried they were about the same things, observing my generation. Of course they thought they were better than my generation. And now my generation think we are better than the current generation. And this current generation will think they are better than the next one.
So there’s nothing new. No new ideas, no new reactions. Just a different setting with characters who are under the illusion that they and their experiences are unique.
As Robert Browning famously said, “God’s in his Heaven,/All’s right with the world.”
Maybe not everything is alright in your world right now, but that will come to an end, for sure. Though good things come to an end, the good news is that bad things come to an end, too.
Blessings.
T.