The Death of Philosophical Debate

It was fascinating to learn yesterday, that the Iranian president has followed the lead of the far-right in America (most notably David Horowitz) by suggesting that a purge of universities is necessary. It is yet another example of the blurring of the lines between the radicals in Iran, and the radicals in the US. It is becoming almost impossible to differentiate between the two groups as they continue along their radical paths. One thing has become absolutely clear, there is a distinct lack of philosophical debate in the modern world.

There is a failure on both sides to engage and debate the central issues for the world to develop. In times gone by, philosophiocal debate was at the heart of many of the advances made by mankind. The only advances made in the modern world are technological, not philosophical. Elements on both sides intend to destroy the need for rational debate. In its place there has developed one simple overriding philiosophy: If you disagree, you will be destroyed. We see this kind of rhetoric prevalent among much of the far-right in both the US and the UK. There is the current train of thought that Islam = bad/evil, amongst many on the far-right (one only has to read the pages of such far-right 'thinkers' as those at USS Neverdock and Biased BBC). Nevermind the many advances made by Islamic scholars such as in the fields of mathematics and astronomy. No, due to a small group of radical Islamicists, the far-right refuse to acknowledge the developments upon which much of our civilisation is built upon.

Consequently, the far-right fails to engage in a battle of ideas, it merely repeats the line of 'you are either with us, or against us'. This line, more than any other, points to the current malaise in civilised society. There is no debate. No wish to engage. Where are the great philosophers of our time? Where are those that wish to battle with ideas, instead of missiles? The truth is, they are few and far between. If the attempts to purge intellectual scholars in the West and the East succeed, civilisation will lose. For then we will truly be in the hands of the extremists who use the military as a debating tool, rather than engage in ideas.