the complex of inferiority in the motherland of philosophy

 

…The other day — Thursday — was World Philosophy Day, and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) decided to celebrate it for the very first time.

In the country that produced the very first purely philosophical discourse — the Greek Pre-Socratics — the country that, with incredible boldness and insight, tried to explain the world beyond myths, religious beliefs, superstitions, and prejudices; the country that gave the world the giants who laid the foundations for almost every philosophical current… they sat there like little schoolchildren.

Before the emergence of philosophy, the dominant way of explaining the world was based on myth.

“The basic characteristics of mythical thinking were:

•  Anthropomorphism: Natural phenomena (e.g., thunder, earthquakes, the sun) were explained as acts or expressions of the will of gods and heroes who had human form and qualities.

•  Arbitrariness: Events happened because of the personal, unlimited power of deities, without being governed by fixed, recognizable laws. The “will of the gods” was the ultimate explanation.

•  Tradition: Beliefs were passed down from generation to generation through oral or written narratives (such as the Homeric epics and Hesiod’s Theogony) and were collective and anonymous.

•  Imagination: Imagination was the main source of explanations, often without regard for observation or logical consistency.

The Pre-Socratic philosophers, starting in the 6th century BC in Ionia, introduced “logos” as a new way of understanding the world:

•  Logic and Observation: “Logos” was based on rational thought, systematic observation, and critical analysis. Philosophers sought natural causes for natural phenomena.

•  Search for the Principle (Archē): Instead of a multitude of gods, they sought a single, fundamental principle — a primary substance (e.g., water, air, the boundless) from which the universe arose.

•  Universal Laws: Their thinking was not arbitrary. They sought explanatory laws and theories that consistently govern the universe, assuming a structured and ordered cosmos.

•  Criticism and Innovation: “Logos” was innovative and critical. Philosophers openly challenged traditional beliefs and sought to discover new truths, encouraging dialogue and questioning.

The Significance of the Transition This shift from myth to logos did not mean the complete disappearance of myth from Greek culture (poets and tragedians continued to use mythical themes), but it established a new approach: questioning and the pursuit of evidence and logical arguments. In essence, the transition from myth to logos formed the foundation of Western civilization, science, and philosophy, enabling the development of critical thinking and rational inquiry.”

That’s what artificial intelligence says — these are commonly accepted facts. I’m not the one saying it.

So, in the country that invented and established philosophy as an intellectual activity, what did they do? They invited a professor from Harvard to give a lecture! Let the foreign “wise man” come and teach the illiterate locals! Couldn’t they, for example, organize a symposium on the contemporary challenges of philosophy and try to contribute new perspectives on the philosophical problems arising from artificial intelligence, from the human relationship with automated labor, from decision-making by obscure, mystical, and undemocratic centers, from the alienation of the massified human through social media, from issues of racial and other identity, from the madness of political correctness?

But they don’t dare raise their own voice because they’re just teachers of the history of philosophy, not producers of new ideas. And it’s not that they can’t — it’s that they lack self-confidence. They feel provincial.

It’s no coincidence that the only Greek philosophers who have produced original ideas of their own were abroad: e.g., Castoriadis, Axelos, Kondylis — they were in France and Germany. Perhaps Yannaras is an exception. The rest? Even their own mothers don’t know who they are.

But they’re probably waiting for a reciprocal invitation to Harvard so they can strut their stuff, just like Tsipras and Bakoyannis did.