Tools of War. Philosophy in the face of wars of the 21st century. Lecture by Magdalena M. Baran

Meeting in memoriam of Cezary Wodziński on the 10th anniversary of his death

Thoughts of Thought is a series of philosophical lectures and debates on the most important issues shaping our present and shaping our immediate future. During the third meeting, Magdalena M. Baran will look at how the proximity of war changes our thinking about the world, society and ourselves. What happens to values such as justice, solidarity, responsibility or patriotism when they are put to the test by violence, fear and conflict? Does war reveal the true strength of our beliefs, or does it rather show their limits? The lecture will be followed by a conversation with the participation of Magdalena M. Baran, Małgorzata Kowalska and Anton Marczyński, which will be led by the curator of the series Rzeczenie Mateusz Falkowski.

A few years ago, the war seemed far away. It was understood through the prism of history or considered as an event taking place in a distant country. Today it is at our fingertips, it has become an element of our everyday life, changes the geopolitical system, calls into question our everyday life, the quality of relationships, the stability of social resilience, our individual and group ideas about who we are in the face of war. War poses equally serious challenges to our thinking — and especially to philosophy and ethics. Krzysztof Michalski wrote: “All our concepts, all our values are understood only in the context of war; only when we discover their functioning in the confrontation of my world with the other (“at war”), which is waiting around the corner. It is only when we confront our concepts and our values with something radically different from them that we will know what they are worth.” This confrontation takes place every day, both when we ask about the theory and practice of just war, as well as when war “verifies” our values, such as justice, responsibility, solidarity, patriotism, moderation or, finally, honor and courage. He opposes them with his own tools: anger, hatred, revenge, greed and cruelty. So what remains of our world in the context of war?

Magdalena M. Baran
Philosophy Essay Contest Organizer
Barbara Skarga Foundation for Thought

partnership
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw

Curator of the cycle and conducting meetings
Mateusz Falkowski

The project is financed from the state budget, granted by the Minister of Science and Higher Education as part of the Social Responsibility of Science III Program.