b/ Second Judgment of the Doxa: There Is a Crisis of Values

It is often said that our world faces a crisis of values, and daily events seem to validate this view. A. Léonard, for instance, lists symptoms of this crisis with a Catholic perspective: The over-armament of the great powers and the rising debt of the Third World, the sharp decline in birth rates in the West and the advent of artificial reproduction technologies, abortion and contraception, experimentation on the human body and invasion of privacy, human rights both championed and violated, the relentless pursuit of comfort and the persistent unhappiness… ¹.

Likewise, R. Misrahi, with a more Spinozist outlook, echoes this sombre depiction of present-day challenges: At the dawn of the 21st century, the world appears fractured by crises as grave as those at the start of the previous century. Wars may no longer be 'global,' but conflicts now permeate every continent under new forms, whether as religious wars disguised as national conflicts or battles over interests masked as national struggles. The collapse of totalitarian regimes has bred hatred and localized conflicts, while technological advancements have generated poverty and unemployment... Thus, dominated by hardship, violence, and misfortune, much of the population seems to exist in a state of perpetual crisis ².

Yet we might well question whether current events truly reveal the deep essence of an era. Wars, poverty, and unemployment have affected all ages, yet these conditions alone have not warranted claims of a crisis in values. Why should the post-modern era be considered 'in crisis' when previous periods, such as the Classical era of Descartes, faced similar calamities?

If there is indeed a crisis of values, it is not, in my view, due to current events, which appear to validate King Solomon’s saying: Nothing new under the sun. The most superficial approach to understanding our time is perhaps one that interprets it solely through the lens of isolated historical events, such as 9/11.

On the contrary, one could argue that ethical concerns have never been more prominent than in our time. The laws of war now restrict state actions, and most breaches of international law are swiftly exposed by the media. Ethics committees are proliferating; ethical reflection is emerging across all fields of activity; and 'ethics' sections are now being established in university libraries. Ethical works are no longer confined to the 'philosophy' section, as if ethics were evolving beyond a subset of philosophy and gaining a distinct presence of its own.

Nonetheless, we might question whether this surge in moral discourse truly reflects an ethical revival or rather signals an underlying unease. The flood of books and establishment of ethics committees seem to be responses to a profound issue, as only a truly fundamental problem could prompt so many answers. Or put differently: the sheer number of responses suggests that the problem itself remains unresolved.

This expansive growth in the field of ethics may, in fact, be a troubling sign of its impending decline.
We might recall Hölderlin’s words: But where the danger is, also grows the saving power ³. If ethical works accumulate to guard against moral disorder, then the danger itself must be increasing—that this disorder is swelling beyond control.

So, what underlies this post-modern anxiety?

What is the source of this deep unease?

[Go to the next chapter]

1. Le fondement de la morale, Cerf, Paris, 1991, p. 11
2. Qu'est-ce que l'éthique ? Armand Colin, Paris, 1997, Introduction, p.5
3. Wo aber Gefähr ist, wächst/ Das Rettende auch (Patmos -At Hombourg, 1803-1806).