(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Unlike the traveler, who concentrates on reaching the destination and does not care about the journey, the wanderer has no fixed destination and is dedicated to the journey. In his latest book The ethics of the traveler the Italian philosopher and cultural anthropologist Umberto Galimberti advocates doing the wanderer's ethics, "without goals and departure and arrival points" (p. 43), to an ethics "for the coming humanity".
The so-called deterritorialization processes have put an end to our current ethics, which are based on notions of property, territory and borders. The walker can become a new point of reference. In this magnificent monograph, Galimberti summarizes the intellectual history of the Western world, presents the fundamental problems of the day and proposes what he believes can be a working solution.
The wanderer, who in his nomadism meets the borders, demands that the state be given up once and for all.
Galimberti writes academically, but he is clearly guided by a desire to help solve the great political questions of our time: to reduce the suffering of the poor and migrants, to end war conflicts and to prevent environmental disasters. His thinking requires an acknowledgment of humanity's marginal position in the universe, but his interests are nevertheless deeply human.
The brotherhood
According to Galimberti, the entire development of humanity, from the club to the atomic bomb, has been characterized by the culture of the enemy. Today, he writes, we have reached a point where we must ask ourselves whether human evolution has reached its final phase and will end with the destruction of life on earth, or whether there is another and qualitatively different phase that is not regulated by the enemy culture, but of the brotherhood.
The brotherhood is one secular version of the Christian notion of love for others. The ideal of brotherhood was born out of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution's cry for 'liberté, égalité, fraternité'. But the West put all the emphasis on the pair of terms freedom and equality, where liberal democrats and social democrats shared the political horizon.
On the other hand, brotherhood remained limited by the logic of belonging: Nationalismn limited fraternity to members of the same nation, and the concept of class limited it to members of the same class. Galimberti believes that it is possible to overcome these limitations by following the deepest meaning of Francis of Assisi's "Praise of Creation" ("Laudus creaturarum"), where the water and the moon are called 'sisters', and the wind and the sun 'brothers' – in short said, brotherhood extends from humans to all creatures, since we are all interconnected.
Technology and a new ethics
Technology is at the center of the changes that require a new ethic. In contrast to the time of European modernity, when technology was perceived as an instrument in the hands of man, who could freely use it for good or bad purposes, today technology has become an end in itself. Every human goal can only be achieved with the help of technology.
The entire development of humanity, from the club to the atomic bomb, has been characterized by enemy culture.
It may seem as if man has gained greater freedom in this way, since technology has made it possible to overcome a number of limitations, such as geographical distances. But since most human communication, contact with public administration and banks, consumption and socializing takes place via computers or smartphones, we are not free, because we simply cannot choose not to use them. Technology is no longer a means, it has become our world.
I age of technology (p. 23) we must rethink humanistic concepts such as freedom and identity. And we have lost certainty, because with technology, man's ability to act has become far greater than his ability to predict what the result will be. Action, actor and effect no longer refer to people, but to the accumulated knowledge that can neither be understood nor controlled. Thus responsibility, which has been the central point of reference for all historical ethics, has been removed from the actions of individuals and groups.
The climatic equilibrium
The entire development of humanity, from the club to the atomic bomb, has been characterized by the culture of the enemy. The Platonic idea that ethics and politics can control technology is outdated. Rather, an ethic that is suitable for the unpredictability of the new world of technology, namely that of the wanderer, who has no map, and who deals with difficulties as they arise, with the means currently available. The technical universe, without goals or visions of the world, "in a certain sense liberates the world as an absolute and continuous novelty" (p. 39). In this new context, a new type of freedom presents itself. It is no longer the freedom of the sovereign who dominates his kingdom, but the freedom of the wanderer who "does not even dominate his own life".
Galimberti's philosophy is a unique, thorough and timely development of the legacy of the modern thinkers, from Nietzsche to Foucault, who have been critical of, in Freud's words, "man's naive self-love". Today we know that man is not the center of the universe, that he does not have a privileged place in creation. Also, that man does not control his mind. We have reached a point where our naive belief that we are in charge can cost us dearly.
Humans are the first species on Earth to become a geophysical force. By changing the atmosphere and the climatic balance, releasing toxic waste into the air, water and soil and polluting rivers and lakes, humans put the entire ecosystem at risk – to such an extent that the effects are irreversible and can be fatal.
We have reached a point where our naive belief that we are in charge can cost us dearly.
The idea of civilization advocated by the West is incompatible with life because the spread of this idea across the planet would mean the end of the biosphere. Therefore, says Galimberti, "the humanism of domination is a humanism without a future" (p. 46). No measure based on technology will be able to help avoid this disastern. What is needed is a paradigm shift from the anthropocentric belief in man as the master of nature to the biocentric (after bios, the Greek word for life) the recognition that man has no privileges in relation to other forms of life – he is no master, but an expression of nature. The wanderer's ethic is planetary because it sees life on earth as the measure of everything.
Cosmopolitics and the state
At the same time, this ethic is also cosmopolitan because it claims that the goods of the earth belong to all humanity without discrimination. It requires respect for life in all its forms, including that which makes life possible, such as air, water, plants, animals and the atmosphere.
A respect for life in all its forms, including that which makes life possible, such as air, water, plants, animals and the atmosphere.
Galimberti's view thus differs significantly from the common opinion that Globalisationone of markets and technology and the parallel weakening of the state should somehow be halted or reversed. The wanderer, who in his nomadism meets the borders, demands that the state be given up once and for all, writes Galimberti. The state is based on the culture of the enemy, where the state gained a monopoly on violence. It does not care about the life forms, the air, the water, the animals or the plants, but concentrates on limiting conflicts between the inhabitants – and now seems to exist solely to defend us against the desperate and poor people of the earth. States only promote peace within their own borders, but not outside. Beyond the borders, they are ready to declare war on potential enemies at any time. market and technology are largely responsible for the geological imbalances, but paradoxically enough, by refusing to accept state borders, they can also deal a decisive blow to state power.
Like other of Galimberti's books, 'The Wanderer's Ethics' is in itself a work of art. Learned, well structured and beautifully written. The powerful ideas develop steadily before the reader's eyes, but there is also plenty of room for interpretation – as an invitation to reflect and imagine the future far beyond the usual discourse. As he writes: "These thoughts are still to be thought, but the landscape they unfold is already our unstable, temporary and unfinished abode."
Translated from English by the editor.
