Aristotle differentiated human beings from animals on the basis of our ability to be rational; each individual has the unique ability and the capacity to examine the questions of morality and justice, how the society functions now and how we can improve it for the better, or even examine the functioning of the universe. But this rationality today seems restricted to the market and the economy; we are rational so long as we stay consumers of goods and services and never question the status quo; in this market society individuals are shown to be powerless to the powerful dictates of the invisible hand.
The COVID 19 pandemic that the world is reeling from today has further deepened the fissures of the society that we had ignored for so long. The pandemic has hit all corners of the world but the negative impacts were not spread equally. The socially and economically marginalised sections of the society the world over became double victims, we saw mass unemployment that left a large section of the population starving and a large increase in caste and racial atrocities being committed, with people left choosing between their lives and their livelihood. In tandem with this we saw the richest 10 percent of the population increasing their wealth bringing inequality to an all time high. These events are unique because of their ability to shine light on all the ways we went wrong in creating an equitable, harmonious, moral society; and now we are left asking the very important questions that many philosophers before us strived to find answers to. It is not that we ever stopped asking these questions but along the way in the modern world these questions and answers were discussed and debated among an elite section of scholars who majored in the subject philosophy, which somehow lay beyond the purview of the general population.
In philosopher Bertrand Russel’s essay, “Philosophy for Laymen” (1946), he argues for the importance of introducing philosophy into the general curriculum in schools so that every individual can debate and discuss these questions themselves. Schools are the Agoras, the Pnyx and the Kutagarashalas of the modern world and include students from all sections of the society, creating a setting for moulding the next generation of individuals who are not just rational consumers but are rational thinkers who question the world around them and find answers and solutions to problems in a just and moral manner. This curriculum must include the writings of ancient to modern philosophers like Socrates, Aristotle, Chanakya, Hegel, John Rawls, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Hobbes, Kant, Hume, John Rawls, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky etc where there are discussions about the many questions that have been raised throughout history and the many answers that people and society has come up with. Through a well-designed curriculum these classes will encourage students to develop analytical, logical, inquisitive skills which increase their value as a human being and as a citizen. Or as Bertrand Russel wrote, “It can give a habit of exact and careful thought, not only in mathematics and science, but in questions of large practical import. It can give an impersonal breadth and scope to the conception of the ends of life. It can give to the individual a just measure of himself in relation to society, of man in the present to man in the past and in the future, and of the whole history of man in relation to the astronomical cosmos.” (Russell, 1946)
Interestingly, even the idea of rationality in the market society and the invisible hand propounded by Adam Smith, who was a philosopher and a social thinker, were a response to the society that he witnessed, where religion and religious ideas were losing importance and people were looking for their own answers to morality and justice. The book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was written as a follow up to the thoughts and ideas he wrote about in the book Theory of Moral Sentiments, where he justified individualistic pursuit of happiness for the overall wellbeing of the society. Which were essentially one of the points propounded by the Sophists whose teachings Socrates abhorred. Thus within a single thought that we see today as universal there were debates and counter points which some of us are unaware of and others wilfully ignore.
In the absence of philosophy in general education, what we observe, especially among the Indian populace, is that the questions about morality, spirituality, justice etc are answered by religious teachings. The foundation to what we view as right and wrong and in many situations about how we view the world can be shaped by these teachings; as a starting point this is well and good, but often in the real world these dogmatic teachings restrict our curiosity and limit our ability to question the world. In the book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Michel Foucault talks about the rules and regulations that all individuals in a society are subject to; where the modern man himself is born of regulations.“Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals…which all resemble prisons?” ( Foucault, 1975). In all areas, insolence, lateness, laziness, dirtiness and impurity are punished and all this starts from the schools. There is no doubt that we live in a surveillance society, where any and all transgressions from the norm are punished, and the mode of punishment becomes the model for controlling an entire society. This often creates a rigid society of adults who view these rules put forth as universal and are more than ready to uphold the existing state of affairs as long as it serves them well, a society that caters to the wants of the few and ignores the needs of the many.
The ideas introduced here might seem quixotic or unrealistic to many; the argument for introducing philosophy into general education is not to be seen as a panacea to all the problems that ail the world but must be seen as a step in the right direction to creating a world where citizens not only question the inequality and the existing conditions but also try to find solutions to the many problems that we face as a society. In doing this we can keep on redefining the meaning of a perfect society. And it is infinitely better to move towards perfection, even though we might never reach it, than living in stagnation.
Induja Thampi
Induja Thampi completed her undergraduate degree in economics from Lady Shri Ram College and is currently doing her post graduation from Central University of Tamil Nadu. She loves to read and believes in humanity's ability to right its wrongdoings. With a pen in hand and a few trusty books at her desk she tries to go about doing just that, wherever injustice prevails.