This meeting is not taking place under the most ideal of circumstances, as it is required to take place over a Zoom call for the sake of my health as well as the health of the three philosophers. Everyone does do all they can to make their best impression and put forth their best image however, as each of the philosophers is dressed well and has a beautiful living room in the background of their video boxes. Everyone is clearly affected by the current state of events and Kurt Anderson in particular seemed eager to let me and everyone else know exactly what he thought about them, so I figured now would be a perfect time to greet them and present them with their questions.
“Good morning everyone, I hope that you’re all doing well in these troubling times. Do you think philosophy can help people learn to respect truth, facts, reality, and one another, and to reject falsehood, superstition, selfishness, polarization, partisanship, and mutual hostility based on differences of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, belief, etc.? If so, how? If not, why not? Also how would you answer William James’ really vital question for us all: What is this world going to be? What is life eventually to make of itself?’
Kurt Anderson was quick to answer as he is not the type to let his opinions be unheard nor is he afraid for them to be judged, chiming in with: “I think the more excuse we have to use our brains to think and draw logical conclusions the better, and philosophy is just the way to achieve those logical conclusions. Even before this pandemic which has undoubtedly crippled American society there was still a sense of insanity wreaking havoc upon this country as a result of superstition and partisanship in general, over the issue of gun control contributing to horrific mass shootings. The issue of regulating assault weapons was once bipartisan; ‘now however, thanks to the NRA, it’s the rare republican leader who doesn’t encourage the confiscation fantasy.’ (FL ch. 42) Life will make out of itself exactly what mankind has set into motion, whether that be a long and prosperous future or a future soon to be spent in space in the case that society continues to label the factual existence of global warming as a myth.”
Julian Baggini is the last to let their thoughts be heard: “Philosophy is quite beautiful in the sense that it’s something all cultures and peoples on this Earth share, whether they be diametrically opposed or not every society has its own philosophical beliefs that help maintain a sense of understanding and comradery. Though if we wish to truly combat issues such as polarization and superstition based on these different factors, we must branch out from our own set of ideals and open our minds to those of others. ‘A philosophical tradition has a lot in common with a language. We can only communicate in a specific language: there is no universal human tongue. But that does not mean we should complacently assume there is only one language – our own – that can express the truth’ (HTWT ch 1). The world will be a result of mankind’s ability to understand just how the world thinks, this capacity for understanding and open mindedness will determine just how respectful of each other or how divided amongst each other we become.
We continued our conversation for a few more hours as we discussed current events as well as past influences on our modern world, before bidding farewell and at last signing off.
Baggini's thoughts about language are hopeful, if we think people in the future will be more inclined to learn others' languages and related ways of thinking, and thus become more understanding and tolerant. Do we have reason to think that they will?
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