Interview with Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski: Philosophy and (Un)Common Sense (Part II)
CG: Looking at the last couple of centuries of the development of our Western civilization, many would argue that there was some point, most likely fairly recently, that we slowed down from intellectual, political and social progress, screeched to a halt and then started reversing course. Almost like we forgot what the Enlightenment taught us. Would you agree with this assessment and what is your take on the root causes of this phenomenon?
JBW: I generally agree with this assessment. Giving a satisfactory answer to the question about the root causes of the phenomenon in question could fill a whole series of books, so my reply here is of necessity very brief.
First, the currently dominant sociopolitical system, Bastiat’s “great fiction through which everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else”, institutionalizes envy, parasitism, short-termism, and other traits conducive to the accelerated consumption of the civilizational capital accumulated over the centuries. Second, the neo-Marxist infiltration of major educational and cultural institutions exacerbates these parasitic tendencies by creating a permanent atmosphere of unquenchable resentment. Third, in combination with the above two factors, modern technologies – which are neutral in themselves – further infantilize societies by substantially reducing their attention spans.
Finally, the erosion of the awareness of the transcendental dimension of reality understood as the primary anchor of the natural order might well have exacerbated all the above phenomena.
CG: In your view and in a "real-world" sense, what are the biggest problems or intellectual misconceptions that bar our societies today from reaching a state of harmony, prosperity and peace?
JBW: In reference to the issues mentioned in my answer to the previous question, I would say that among the most harmful intellectual misconceptions and resulting moral problems, one should mention the following: 1) the assumption that one is ever legally entitled to live at the expense of anyone else (barring cases of just restitution), 2) the conviction that, somehow or other, one can get something for nothing, 3) the belief that there is no natural order of reality that one is bound to respect if one is to live a flourishing life, 4) the expectation that purely material and technological progress is self-sufficient and sustainable, even if the underlying social, cultural, and philosophical framework is badly eroded.
CG: There is a long standing debate over the relationship between Economics and Ethics, the practical manifestations of which we see today in the form of environmentalist government policies, aggressive tax regimes, ie "eat the rich", or in the backbone of most Western welfare systems. What is your own critique of this relationship as it stands today and what would be the ideal state, in your opinion?
JBW: My critique of this relationship is twofold. First, the relationship under consideration is grounded in the logically faulty assumption that normative claims can override the laws of economics. Among the manifold manifestations of this error are policies that aim at eliminating the scarcity of capital, spending one’s way out of depressions, strengthening economic growth by attacking its foundations, etc.
And second, the normative claims in question are deeply defective on the purely ethical level as well, since they promote envy, covetousness, irresponsibility, and other traits that are roundly condemned by practically all “classical” ethical traditions, as well as antithetical to robust and consistent economic development.
Thus, the ideal situation in this respect would be one in which societies at large clearly understand 1) the difference between what is logically possible and what is normatively desirable, and 2) the extent to which standard welfarist policies amount to nothing less than the institutionalization of vice. As mentioned earlier, natural law-oriented education would likely be able to rectify this state of affairs, at least to some degree.
CG: Given your academic background on both philosophy and political science, what is your assessment of today's geopolitical tensions? Do you think that conflict and violence are always inevitable, at least periodically, or is there a way for us all, despite our differences, to peacefully coexist?
JBW: Conflict and violence may always be inevitable, since we do not inhabit a world of saints, but it is crucial to realize that in a statist world the number and intensity of brutal, protracted confrontations is especially amplified because of the ability of warring parties to externalize the costs of their hostile activities onto others.
This is especially so in an environment of legal positivism, where private property rights are treated as ultimately fuzzy and reassignable at will, and thus cannot consistently perform their essential function of resolving conflicts over scarce resources. Randolph Bourne’s observation that “war is the health of the state” appears particularly instructive in this context.
CG: There is this commonly held optimistic view, that we as humans have been marching for centuries towards the path to individual freedom. But on the other hand, if that narrative were correct, then we shouldn't be seeing the levels of public discontent and anger that we're seeing today, with governments and with the "elite", however one perceives it. In your estimation, are we really well on the right way to a bright, free future or do we still have important hurdles to overcome?
JWB: I do not believe that we are on the right way to a bright, free future, since the bulk of the philosophical, ethical, cultural, economic, and legal knowledge concerning the indispensable preconditions of a free and prosperous society has been largely forgotten by the general public.
It is to be hoped that the current ideological audacity and destructive wantonness of the self-proclaimed “elite” will serve as a final wake-up call in this regard and propel society at large towards the accelerated rediscovery of this treasure trove of civilizational wisdom, especially given how ubiquitously accessible it is in today’s day and age. In sum, the task at hand is considerable to say the least, but so are the values that we stand to gain or lose.
Claudio Grass, Hünenberg See, Switzerland
Bild von Gino Crescoli auf Pixabay
