Philosophy at the 'End of History'

The following article  “Philosophy at the ‘End of History’” by Aziz Ali Dad, source “View Point - Friday, January 14, 2011”.

If philosophers jump on the bandwagon of liberalism, then they are signing on the seal of the death of their respected vocation. The world is witnessing war, poverty, terrorism, ecological degradation and social disruption because the current institutions and ideas of liberalism cannot resolve inner contradictions of global capital

“The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking.”

Martin Heidegger Socrates defined the vocation of philosopher as shocking people of their mental habits, Plato thinks it as smashing of idols and Nietzsche described it as ‘diagnosis of the modern soul’ and its vivisection. Since everything is mutable, it is natural that institutions, values and ideas also change with the passage of time. On the contrary, our ideas, institutions and values get ossified when the society wallows in unquestionable satisfaction of its perfect order. In such a situation, the vocation of philosopher is to shock people from their amnesia about Being and subject everything to critical scrutiny. That is why Rober Zend says “Being a philosopher, I have problem for every solution.”

Conformism kills philosophical spirit. The dialectics that enables philosophy to push the boundaries of knowledge is the courage to question habits not only of society but of thinking. It is the questioning spirit of philosophers that propels history and societies forward. But this thesis faces serious challenge in our age with the proclamation of ‘The End of History’ by Francis Fukuyama. He is of the opinion that the triumph of liberal democracy over all other political systems is the end of history because there is no alternative ideology to liberalism. In the absence of an alternative ideology history cannot move forward. His pronouncement of the end of history is preceded by proclamations of death of God, author, nature and meta-narratives.

Here the question arises: what is the fate of philosophy in the end of history, in which the world has witnessed the world entering into liberal paradise? In such a situation it is difficult to shock society of its mental torpor. Fukuyama’s theory is buttressed by power of economic liberalization in which nobody is allowed to deviate; otherwise he/she will become pariah in modern system.

For more details please view link: http://www.viewpointonline.net/philosophy-at-the-end-of-history.html