Coronavirus, the end of an Age? For a Philosophical Flash Mob.

Abstract

The viruses that have accompanied humanity since its appearance on the planet act according to causes stemming from the laws of biology, not acording to supernatural logic nor for further purposes, and they know no boundaries. For this reason, they present no preferences or idiosyncrasies of any sort, more or less pernicious, produced by those basic passions that Spinoza identifies as the engine of (bad) politics: fear and hope. Shedding light on the motives and the essence of these passions should be the primary objective of dialogue and philosophical-scientific reasoning in a global society that defines itself as truly open and democratic. So here we will try to answer a basic question: Now that the frenetic rhythms of life we are used to have weakened, will we know how to make good use of the pause for reflection that is granted to us? That is, will we be more evolutionarily intelligent than coronavirus?

Keywords

• coronavirus
• pandemic
• spinosa
• social darwinism
• globalization
• hans jonas