The Open Society and its Enemies 2.0

Karl Popper's text (1) is of a disconcerting relevance that must serve as the starting point for a new reflection on the attacks carried out by various currents of thought and political movements against our democratic societies, which stem from the ideas of the Enlightenment. While Popperian ideas are relevant today, their content must nevertheless be revised to align with our contemporary situation. Regarding the enemies attempting to destroy democratic societies, I will here conduct a non-exhaustive inventory that, nonetheless, will allow us to complement and update Popper's critique. The enemies are polymorphic, coming from various philosophical, sociological, and political currents. There are also amplification devices represented by social networks, among others. Reinforcement effectors can be found in the field of social psychology and have been highlighted in various concepts: "concept creep" formulated by Haslam, "Motte and Bailey," and psychogenic contamination (for explanation see reference 2, and footnote).

These enemies have several things in common. They disregard facts and factual truths, instead constructing pseudo-realities and myths. Their trade is subversion and the will to power. The notion of truth and justice is meaningless to them, and if it has any content, it is filled with distortions and myths.

In 1932, the great German literary critic Ernst Robert Curtius wrote a text titled "Deutscher Geist in Gefahr" (3), to attack relativism and the anarchic state of the European intelligentsia. In this text, Curtius argues that German society turned its back on knowledge, plunged into irrationality, began to destroy culture, and denied the value of reason. Julian Benda, already in 1927 (4), had anticipated this and spoke, in a beautiful text, of the betrayal of the intellectuals (“clerics” in his words), meaning all academics, intellectuals, journalists, etc., thus everyone who does not participate in the production of material goods. Benda in his time attacked the clerics of order who saw democracy as disorder and therefore something to be overthrown. However, it is now necessary to expand this to include the betrayal of the clerics of disorder, as both clerics of order and disorder deny the value of truth and justice.

Analytic philosopher Kevin Mulligan, following in the footsteps of Robert Musil, talks about "cognitive folly or stupidity" and "cognitive vice" (5). He writes, "Benda indeed noted that the betrayal of the intellectuals in the 50 years preceding 1927 was not a mere fashion that would be followed by a contrary movement. The attack of postmodernism on the creation of truth values and knowledge is the direct descendant of the tradition of thought analyzed by Benda and Musil. A consequence of the characterization of stupidity proposed here is that postmodernism is nonsensical, and postmodernists, if they are sincere, must to that extent, be stupid."

The enemies of open societies are found both outside and inside. External enemies are represented by autocratic political systems and theocratic politico-religious systems. Putin's Russia is the very example of an autocratic fascistic system that tries to destabilize open societies internationally by initiating wars and conflicts based on a mythological reading of historical facts, and by conducting hybrid wars (cyber, etc.). The politico-religious attack comes from Iran, the quintessential theocratic system, whose exactions against its people are legion, as well as from various Sunni jihadism offices. Internal enemies are represented by post-Marxist ideologies such as wokeism, decolonialism, critical social justice, etc., instrumentalized by far-left political movements that have made them their holy grail. The far-right and neo-fascist movements are also making a comeback, such as Christian Nationalism in the USA, closely related to Trumpism and MAGA. The other internal enemy is represented by religious fundamentalisms of the "Muslim Brotherhood" type, and various other movements (jihadism, Salafism, etc.). The "unnatural" alliance between religious fundamentalism, the far-left, and wokeism attests to the extension of madness and cognitive vice. External enemies use the tensions and actions of internal enemies to further fracture and destabilize democracies.

Political or institutional opportunism, ideological capture, naivety, wrongly placed “well meaning”, the absence of genuine historical and philosophical knowledge, and the absence of courage (up to the highest levels of governance) are facilitators for the ideological spread of harmful and corrosive ideas by these traitors to reason.

Democratic societies must rediscover their MEANING (where do we come from, where are we going, etc.) and the courage to affirm the values that are ours. This involves a reexamination of our institutions such as governing bodies, universities, research institutes, institutions of higher learning, etc., and a strengthening of our immune system against the follies and cognitive vices that aim at the destruction of our cultural heritage and our democracies.

Référence

1. Popper, K, La Société ouverte et ses ennemis Points Essais parution 07/06/2018, 352 pages
EAN 9782757873144

2. Bikfalvi, A. The Notion of Truth in Sciences and Medicine, Why it Matters and Why We Must Defend It. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-review/article/notion-of-truth-in-sciences-and-medicine-why-it-matters-and-why-we-must-defend-it/9EB51D0BFB180F8E8D9AFE593E390335

3. Curtius R. (1932) Deutscher Geist in Gefahr. Stuttgart, Berlin: Deutsche Verlags-Ansta

4. Benda J 1975) (1927) La Trahison des clercs. Paris: Grasset.

5. Mulligan K. Anatomies of Foolishness 1927–1937. Särtryck ur: Årsbok 2014 KVHAA, Stockholm 2014 (isbn 978-91-7402-428-9, issn 0083-6796)

Footnotes: 

“Concept creep”: This concerns the extension of the meaning of socially important concepts related to harm. Expanded concepts of harm problematize previously tolerated behavior and reflect a growing sensitivity to suffering and injustice.

 - “Motte and Bailey”: The “motte and bailey” fallacy is used by activists to mislead well-meaning people. An idea is used as bait and twisted from its original meaning. This is linked to some extent to the “creep concept”.

 -Psychogenic contamination: Classic psychogenic contamination can lead to a psychogenic outbreak, where neurological or other pathological symptoms may appear. Otherwise, it can also lead to collective psychosis, mass movements and witch hunts (see: Salem witch trials).