Filosofie politica

La 86 de ani, Isaiah Berlin (pentru agnostici, mare filosof liberal si totodata evreu rus, deci supravietuitor si observator a doua totalitarisme) tinea o prelegere la o universitate din China. In "My Intellectual Path", Berlin isi rezuma filosofia, si o face intr-un limbaj cat se poate de accesibil.

La un moment dat, face o analiza care ma bantuie de ceva zile. In primul rand e impotriva monismului (teza conform careia exista un singur adevar si o singura cale: "to all true questions there must be one true answer and one only, all the other answers being false [...]; there must exist a path which leads clear thinkers to the correct answers to these questions, as much in the moral, social and political worlds as in that of the natural sciences, whether it is the same method or not"), cale sigura spre totalitarism si extremism. In acelasi timp, lui Berlin ii repugna relativismul cultural (cum ca ar exista mai multe culturi, fiecare cu setul ei de valori, fiecare cu propriul cod moral, nici unul universal adevarat).

Astfel, ajunge sa militeze pentru calea de mijloc: pluralismul ("there is a plurality of values which men can and do seek, and that these values differ. [...] I think these values are objective. [...] If I am a man or a woman with sufficient imagination (and this I do need), I can enter into a value-system which is not my own, but which is nevertheless something I can conceive of men pursuing while remaining human, while remaining creatures with whom I can communicate, with whom I have some common values - for all human beings must have some common values or they cease to be human [...] Nevertheless, of course, if I pursue one set of values I may detest another, and may think it is damaging to the only form of life that I am able to live or tolerate. [...] I find Nazi values detestable, but I can understand how, given enough misinformation, enough false belief about reality, one could come to believe that they are the only salvation. If pluralism is a valid view, and respect between systems of values which are not necessarily hostile to each other is possible, then toleration and liberal consequences follow").

Eu personal nu pot. Nu pot sa conceptualizez pluralismul si pace. Nu vad cum comprehensiunea inseamna cu necesitate acceptare. Nu vad cum pluralismul a la Berlin poate fi valabil intr-o lume in care nu suntem cu totii liberali. Inteleg nazismul, inteleg cultura din spatele practicilor africane de circumcizie feminina, inteleg cum in unele culturi e inca normal sa ai copii-sclavi (vezi cazul asa-numitilor restaveks din Haiti). Si totusi nu sunt de acord. Traiesc intr-o cultura (si intr-o cultura politica) pe care o consider "cea buna". Democratia mi se pare o specie a monismului. Cea mai putin daunatoare, ce-i drept. Insa sa fim seriosi, nu suntem pluralisti. Si credem ca adevarul e unul.

Photo: The Sunday Tribune, India

Isaiah Berlin political philosophy liberalism cultural relativism