Dark Times: A Philosophical Perspective on Violence
Oh, Marc Crépon, the philosopher who’s clearly been reading too many headlines! I mean, “No vacation for violence?” Tell me, Marc, does that mean I can’t even sneak in a cheeky trip to Ibiza without the world going to hell in a handbasket? I can already hear the travel agents: “All-inclusive packages, but violence not included!”
In his book, Seven Lessons on Violence, Crépon talks about our current state of mayhem, citing everything from wars in the Middle East to knife attacks in Zurich. It’s like the worst world tour ever planned—“Come for the chaos, stay for the fear!” Makes you wonder where the holiday brochures are hiding all this, right?
The Sociopathic Nature of News
“Populism! Continuous news channels! Social media!” Crépon kicks off with quite the list of suspects. I mean, if we were investigating a crime, I think we’d already have a full arrest log. You see, he argues that these sources of information don’t just relay violence but transform it into a sort of grotesque performance art, where everyone sees the chaos, but no one feels the pain. It’s like scrolling through TikTok but with a lot more sadness and no catchy dance moves!
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve found that the more I watch the news, the more I feel like I’m living in a twisted version of a sitcom, where rather than laughs, there’s just violence waiting around every corner. Thank heavens for Netflix, am I right? At least they provide a safe space for all that chaos!
Parting Thoughts on a Violent World
Crépon’s dire warning is that we can’t just shrug off the violence with a casual “not my circus, not my monkeys.” It bleeds into our daily lives, and before long, we’ll all be arguing with our neighbors about who puts up the noisiest garden gnome while the world falls apart outside. A philosophical conundrum with no clear answer! I can just picture it now: “Excuse me, neighbor, have you heard about the rise in populism? Oh, good, you’re cutting the hedge… different subject.”
In conclusion, Marc Crépon’s analysis is a wake-up call—one served with a side of existential dread. We live in turbulent times, and it seems there really isn’t a vacation for violence. But perhaps it’s time we try to find a way to combat this with a more human touch. Who knows? Maybe a group hug and a good therapy session might work as well as shouting at strangers on social media. Just a thought!
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Published on October 16, 2024 at 00:07. / Modified on October 16, 2024 at 3:28 p.m.
“There is no vacation for violence,” wrote Marc Crépon a year ago, before sending the manuscript of his book, Seven lessons on violence, to his publisher. War in the Middle East and Ukraine, knife attacks on children in Zurich, deadly explosion in Pakistan, massacre by a gang in Haiti… The flow is continuous. “We are observing an increase in violence,” underlines today this specialist in political and moral philosophy, research director at the CNRS and professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. A worrying observation informed by the research he has undertaken, for more than fifteen years, on the effects of violence on people.
Marc Crépon points out populism, continuous news channels and social networks which derealize violence and bear great responsibility for its rise. The philosopher sounds the alarm all the more that this scourge does not allow us to provide a human response to the conflicts that arise between men.
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