- Re-ces-sion (-noun) A significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting longer than a few months. It is visible in industrial production, employment, real income, and wholesale-retail trade. The technical indicator of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth as measured by a country's GDP (gross domestic product).
By definition, the United States economy is only halfway through a recession that started in December 2007 and will be the longest and most severe in the post-war period. Many people have their own view about the recession, and many others are seeking help. No doubt you've heard many theories and much analysis about the why's and wherefore's of this recession; economists, government leaders, union officials, and corporate CEOs all have their separate opinions.
So what about philosophers? Can the great minds of history tell us how to deal with the economic crisis of the present? We asked Dr. Luis E. Navia, a professor of philosophy at NYIT, and leading scholar on Socrates. Professor Navia was born in Colombia (South America), where he received a superb, classical education under the Jesuits, and was first introduced to the study of philosophy and classical languages. He came to the United States before his eighteenth birthday and has lived in New York since that time.
Professor Navia has written and edited over twenty books, several of them on ancient Greek philosophy. A number of his books deal with the Cynic movement and with Cynics such as Antisthenes and Diogenes the Dog (whom he regards as the most faithful followers of Socrates). Some of the works he has written have even been translated into languages such as German, French, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, and Japanese. He views his book, Socrates: a Life Examined, as the summation of his writing career and his most significant contribution in philosophy. From the book, Socrates: A Life Examined, Navia explains, "Socrates' message, is that human life is not just a senseless concatenation of fleeting moments devoted to the pursuit of pleasure, wealth, power, knowledge, or success but a task to be structured and completed by each one of s, just as a great artist strives to realize his supreme creation."
Fluent in several languages and with a solid knowledge of Greek and Latin, Navia regards himself as a citizen of the world. He defines philosophy as a vocation, not just as a way of making a living, which obliges him to live an examined life and to regard reason as the only source of legislation for himself and those close to him. This, Navia believes, is the lesson that philosophy has taught him since the time when as a child in Colombia, and he learned about Aristotle from his father.
So what could philosophers say about the current recession and living today? "Some of them, including Socrates, would probably say that it is a clear manifestation of the lack of rationality that permeates the world -- both people in general, and their governments," says Dr. Navia. "Thought is a rare commodity, that is, people seldom think clearly about their own lives. Greed and arrogance seem to dominate much of human behavior, and more is seen always as better than less. The fundamental lesson of philosophy is simply this: think carefully and critically about what you do and seek happiness not in things, fame, power, wealth, and other such aspirations, but in a clear and well structured life."
In two of his books, Navia addresses the issue of recession, which he understands as a sort of disorientation of the human mind and a lack of clear and compassionate thinking. In these two books, Diogenes the Cynic: the War against the World and Socrates: a Life Examined, he explores with precision the problem of the unfortunate human condition. Both Socrates and Diogenes, and Navia may add, many other philosophers, reached the conclusion that the human world resembles an enormous madhouse. Navia believes that if an injection of reason would be administered to people, the recession could be controlled.
According to Professor Navia, the world's economic growth should be measured in GDH or Gross Domestic Happiness, not GDP. We should all be focusing on what makes us happy. Happiness is not equivalent to temporary pleasures or fleeting moments of satisfaction. A life of pleasure is not equivalent to a happy life. Happiness, as Socrates understood the concept, is the result of a certain kind of life; a life which is lived with accordance and reason. It is to live as the result of a well-constructed plan based on moral norms, guided by a commitment to be ethically sound and consistent. We can understand this by means of an equation (for which Socrates became famous): reason leads to what is morally good, and what is morally good, leads to a happy life. In such an ideal philosophical life there would not be any need for the possession of unnecessary things, the acquisition of wealth, the search for fame, the hunger for power, or the universal thirst for pleasure, which is what moves people in unhealthy directions.
The madness of the present economic condition is the necessary result of the lack of mind or reason that is found everywhere. Lack of reason, that is, stupidity and thoughtlessness, is the necessary cause that creates the unhappy conditions in which most people live. If education is to have some value, it must be to bring about a happier world. Learning for the sake of learning is altogether a misguided and senseless human activity.
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