On the one hand, the State's absolute control over thought, as in George Orwell's 1984. On the other, the complete abolition of any authority, as proposed by the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin. Placed side by side, the two works leave the reader faced with a real dilemma: either totalitarianism or anarchism. Is there really a third way, or do we have to choose one of the two extremes?
The answer the lesson proposes does not deny the problem or pretend that it is simple. It points out a concrete path, and it doesn't start with reforming laws, it starts with reforming people.
Neither control nor absence: re-educate in virtues
The solution is a middle way, and for this it helps to study the classics in depth, because it involves educating citizens in virtues and duties. It's not Big Brother deciding what everyone should think. Nor is it the absence of any authority, with the risk of chaos that entails. It is to form citizens capable of recognizing, for themselves, the difference between legitimate authority and illegitimate power, and of exercising authority without it becoming domination.
This is the middle life, that is, the re-education of the citizen in virtues and duties.
The three anchors
The lesson indicates three works as a starting point for this education.
The first is Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, where he deals with what virtue is and how it is exercised. It is not an abstract theory of good, it is a practical manual: virtue is formed through habit, through the repeated exercise of right choices.
The second is After Virtue, by the Scottish philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, a study of Aristotelian philosophy that also focuses on the theme of moral duty. It is the bridge between ancient ethics and the questions that modernity has asked, and continues to ask, about why to act well.
The third is the set of three critiques of Immanuel Kant: the critique of pure reason, the critique of practical reason and the critique of judgment. Three works that deal, each in its own way, with what reason can know, what it should do and how it judges.
Re-educating is not the same thing as indoctrinating
It is worth highlighting the difference between this re-education and that which appears at the other end of the lesson, that of totalitarian regimes that punish dissidents until they learn to love the regime. One seeks free conviction, the other seeks submission disguised as conviction. It is exactly the line that separates legitimate authority from illegitimate power: a person trained in virtues follows good because they recognize it, not because they fear punishment for not following it.
Here is, then, the invitation that concludes this reasoning: if the problem is the lack of citizens capable of sustaining a fair authority without falling into either tyranny or chaos, where would you start to train yourself, today, to be one of them?
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See recommended readingsFrequently asked questions
What is the middle way between totalitarianism and anarchism?
It is the re-education of citizens in virtues and duties, carried out through an in-depth study of the classics. It is not the absolute control of a State like that of 1984, nor the complete absence of authority defended by Bakunin, it is training people capable of exercising and recognizing legitimate authority.
What works serve as the basis for this education in the virtues?
Three anchors appear in the class: Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle, about what virtue is and how to exercise it; After Virtue, by Scottish philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who studies Aristotelian philosophy and moral duty; and Immanuel Kant's three critiques, that of pure reason, that of practical reason and that of judgment.
Why is educating in virtues different from re-educating by force?
Because it changes what is sought in citizens: conviction, not obedience. Re-education by force, as in the camps of totalitarian regimes, wants the person to love what dominates them. Education in virtues wants the person to recognize the good and choose it for themselves, the opposite of emotional dominance.
Go deeper: The pendulum effect on ideas · Conviction or fear: the line between authority and power · The totalitarianism that Orwell recognized · Caravaggio and Bernini, the birth of Baroque
Source class (YouTube): 1984, de George Orwell (NousCast)