About the recent artwork attacks for eco-activism
This website promotes art and saving the planet. Therefore it seems applicable to respond to the recent artwork related eco-activism.
For a perspective on recent events from the perspective of philosophy it might be of interest to look at British philosopher and activist Bertrand Russell who was emprisoned several times for his campaigns against war.
An insightful discussion can be found on the following philosophy forum:
What would Bertrand Russell say?
Bertrand Russell once went to jail for his campaign against war.
Bertrand Russell as an activist in 1961
The following interview provides an indication of how Bertrand Russell might have responded to the recent events:
Interviewer: Do you think that on the whole fanatics in the world are more useful or more dangerous than sceptics?
Bertrand Russell: Fanaticism is THE danger of the world. It always has been and has done untold harm. I think that fanaticism is the gravest danger there is. I'd almost say that I was fanatical against fanaticism.
Interviewer: But are you then not fanatical also against some other things. You see, your current campaign is in favour of nuclear disarmament.
Would you encourage your supporters to undertake some of the extreme demonstrations they undertake. Isn't that fanaticism?
Bertrand Russell: I don't think that's fanaticism. No, some of them may be fanatical but I do give them support but not from fanatical reasons. I support them because everything sain and sensible and quiet that we do is absolutely ignored by the press. And the only way that we can get into the press system is to do something that looks fanatical.
The following article provides more information about Bertrand Russell's activism.
(2020) The politics of logic - Philosophy at war: nationalism and logical analysis Russell told one colleague that the talk (On Scientific Method in Philosophy, Oxford) ‘was partly inspired by disgust at the universal outburst of “righteousness” in all nations since the war began. It seems the essence of virtue is persecution, and it has given me a disgust of all ethical notions....
In private, Russell referred to the essay as ‘Philosophers and 🐖 Pigs’.
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Russell’s antiwar protest was so extensive that it would cost him both his job and, for a time, his personal freedom. His theoretical antidote to the irrational, sectarian vitriol between European nations was to try to show how logic could function as an international language that could be used impartially and dispassionately to adjudicate disputes. His theoretical antidote was, in other words, analytic philosophy.
‘The truth, whatever it may be, is the same in England, France, and Germany … it is in its essence neutral’ Source: aeon.co