Article by Yuri Oliynyk, writer. The Ukrainian Week
Following the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war, one can hear a great deal of concerns among foreign media and friends: How can this happen in the XXI century, in the heart of Europe?
Of course, the answer could be quite simple, even anecdotal: ‘It’s simple, Watson – war is war’. This would however fail to explain as to why the war was taking place in the first place. Therefore, as to answering ‘How can this be?’ we will refer to a broader approach involving multidisciplinary axes.
In the realm of Philosophy
It seems as though the answer in western minds to the central philosophical dilemma here of ‘why something exists rather than nothing’ (Martin Heidegger) is partly transforming into an illusory consideration. This can be seen even in the works of physicists who have based their studies on the newest discoveries in particle physics (e.g. Roger Penrose, John Wheeler, David Bohm, Nick Bostrom and others).
If we were to refer to the the current philosophical discourse, as seen by the dominant presence of Marx’s dialectical materialism in Russia (which of the two should prevail matter or spirit?), the western school of thought would rather side with idealism and not materialism. Even though Russian dialectic materialism regards the world as real, it considers materialistic things (as well as people) as an entity which arises from nothing, then exists, and then back to nothing (in essence, such things amount to nothing as a result).
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In both cases, it entails the nihilistic treatment of human beings, the devaluation and meaninglessness of human life. Hence, something materialistic can both be in and out of existence from time to time. While western philosophical schools abide by the moral standards of ‘creators of illusion’, the Russian materialistic school of thought exhibits an absolute absence of logic in its moral framework. Hence, the Russian sayings ‘Neither the church nor tavern – are saints’, ‘No, lads, this isn’t the way it is supposed to be’. In this apparent nihilism lies the essence of the ‘mysterious Russian soul’. This is the very soul we have clashed with during this war.
In the realm of Religion
It is important not to forget that our world is the realm of the exiled and the cursed. Let’s note that the The Bible states ‘And God saw that it was good’ after every stage of creation. From this, it can be derived that God (1) either creates based on his vision of something that exists parallel to him, perhaps some sort of matrix at his level, or (2) creates based on his own vision. In any case, upon creating the world, God considers the importance of the creation of a localised and refurbished element within this world (Garden of Eden or Heaven), which would essentially be different from the rest of the creation. The rest as it is, represents more of an infernal rather than heaven-like component, given that God himself can punish people by expulsion from heaven back to the other parts of his creation. We can therefore conclude that the world in which we live in is a place of punishment, an inferno or simply put – hell.
Let’s also keep in mind that God, as portrayed in the Old Testament, is quite formidable and vindictive. To further grasp this, one must read the book of Job, where God threatens a feeble man with all types of brutally infernal punishments, presenting upon the subject a grand set of monstrosities. Therefore, the infernal suffering experienced around the world of the living corresponds to this reality. Even more so, in order to increase suffering, the Christian doctrine (according to the Old Testament) has given humanity a rather dangerous path of opportunity: the idea of a divine right, such as the supposedly inherent right of one nation or people to exercise power over another group.
The underlying property of infernal suffering is the fact that it is impossible to get used to it. The infeasibility of getting accustomed to such suffering is one of the core conditions upon being in hell. Suffering in the world of the living is very diverse, ranging from natural disasters to internal conflicts and bickering. Mankind always lives either in war or during an interwar period of relative peace. I think I am not mistaken if I say that there has never been a generation which had not been dragged into war – that to Christ or Anno Domini. As they say, no time to breath or sigh. And hence, wars around the world are so different from one another, going from spears and swords to ballistic missiles and tanks, so that people would not get used to the same type of suffering and level of pain.
In The Realm of Technology and Science
One must remember that science is not a matter of morality. Its cornerstone – objective truth, puts science above any deliberation of good and evil, as in this case, the two do not have a connection to objectivity. The fact that it is not a matter of morality is grounded on the fact that it relies on philosophical nihilism. It is further separated from the realm of deliberations of morality by its capability to provide us with new inventions which may lead to disasters and other forms of evils, but will still continue to build upon itself further (towards new inventions).
Science can sometimes be blind. Its basis is hypothetical, dependent on hypotheses, which in fact can change anytime. It often seeks the truth gropingly without knowing the exact direction it is headed or what it is searching for. Its ultimate goal, is its own survival – an elixir of immortality. As well, one can remember the monstrosity of the Medieval age, under which chemists and other scientists endured. No matter how science truly attempts to improve our lives or reduce our suffering, its own aim is evident – to prolong and perhaps immortalise human life. Preferably in a human form (as talks of stem cells and cloning have been taking place in the past decades) or in an alternative form (speaking of 3D models, quantum computing and what not).
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Science looks for its elixir of immortality through technologies even when it sees the colossal side-effects those technologies have when applied to war. Science fuels technological advancement without really grasping that this does not lead to a sharpening of consciousness. In fact, consciousness is a phenomenon that does not evolve, revealing a gaping whole in Darwin’s theory. If consciousness evolved in the same manner as earthlings of the ocean in prehistoric times (i.e. when Trilobites were gradually replaced by vertebrates), we would not grasp the meaning of Epic of Gilgamesh, nor that of Homer or Matsuo Bashō. Even more so, the next generation would be completely alien to the previous one and vice versa. Although the structure of consciousness remains constant, technological capabilities continue to grow. With this in mind, the possibilities of the past remain today, even more so, this will be the case in the future – the same atrocities, wars and crimes.
In the realm of Psychology
Consciousness does not evolve but it does change, however. The levels of what can be conceived are changing, as well as what is left behind by our change in conception. It is quite possible that this war, as a form of infernal suffering, is here to boost our consciousness. Upon confronting the Russian invasion, we have come across an irrational and nihilistic entity.
From the Ukrainian side, the war is fought by a collective set of conscious people, while from the Russian side, an unconscious collective. A conscious being has a clear understanding of a set of reasons to act and possible consequences after their own actions. An unconscious being does not understand this, and delegates the responsibility for their actions onto someone else (as we have seen, the Bucha massacre and other towns are a direct cause of this mentality – a lack of responsibility and immunity from consequential punishment). Moreover, an unconscious person will always end up in a situation where there is no way out apart from the execution of commands brought by their physical and hierarchical superiors.
According to philosopher Merab Mamardashvili, Russians always put themselves in a situation which has two options – to fight a war and not to fight a war. And usually, reasons to go to war are always found to be (unsurprisingly) abundant. When looking at a person’s actions who does not see themselves as agential and responsible for their actions, it is pointless to conduct an analysis of them in terms of good or evil. This axis simply does not exist for them – such a person is neither good or evil, as the psychological attribution of any kind is simply not possible (such as one can attribute psychology to animals or zombies).
In the realm of Art
As Francis Scott Fitzgerald once said ‘Art isn’t meaningless… It is in itself. It isn’t in that it tries to make life less so.’ This apparent echoing of philosophical nihilism gives faith in the abilities of art to create something meaningful and it often does by giving meaning to life. Such meaning is often provided by literature (oral and written).
As per my view, the impact of literature on our lives is often left underestimated. Literature has the capacity to create people and nations alike. For example, the ancient Greeks, who were dispersed throughout small islands, were united through a network of Homer’s epos (you are not Greek if you are not familiar with at least a few lines from Iliad or Odyssey). Similarly, Ukrainians were unified through the use of Shevchenko’s Kobzar.
At the same time, literature can also destroy people and entire nations, and not only through the means of comical portrayal of them. Literature can also be used to put one nation or people above another. This is the method that was used by Russia in light of its invasion of Ukraine. Russian culture as it exists today, is built upon myths of Slavophilia (but rather a form of muscovyphilia) – a religious and philosophical movement of Russian ‘intellectuals’ formed in the first half of the XIX century. The ideas propagated by this movement was not only based on the unification of Slavs but also other ethnicities of Europe under the aegis of Moscow, fuelled by the supposed divine right of the Russians and their role in human history. Under these ideas, it was easier to find excuses for further expansion and imperialism, often used back in the days of the Russian monarchs under the doctrine of ‘Orthodoxy. Autocracy. Nationality’.
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It is essential to remember that the mouthpiece of Russian propaganda and Muscovyphilia were the creators of Russian literature. As an example, one can simply pull up a piece from Dostoyevsky’s diary from 1877. ‘In the east (Russia) a third global idea of Slavism was born, which will be the decisive factor in the history of Europe and possibly, mankind’. ‘There is something colossal and unifying about this, even if not decisive for mankind, but is bound to bring the beginning of the end of current European history’. ‘Can ideas of this magnitude be subject to petty, Judaic, third-rate considerations?’ ‘We, Russians, have two ferocious powers, worthy of all the external ones combined – this is the wholeness and spiritual inseparability of millions of our people and a close unity with our Monarch’.
It is also interesting to see the possible methods under which this doctrine could be executed according to the author: ‘and when it will be needed, when the Tsar will say the word, the entire [people] will follow, with the entire 100 million force and will execute anything that is within their capacities, united by a single impulse as one person’.
More excerpts from the diary about war: ‘Yes, and God is with the war; who wants war, although, speaking along the lines of the bloodshed “for the great cause of love” means a lot, as it can cleanse, wash, revive and uplift a lot, what has previously been humbled and defiled in our souls’. This is the kind of thinking that has been programmed into the soldiers of muscovite campaigns – armed with imperialist literature. An unreflected and uncondemned past of inhumane hatred, this kind of rhetoric is nurtured with them from the days of their early upbringing, causing them to lose their humane consciousness and provides them with the essentials to act outside the principles of moral boundaries. Working outside of these boundaries, a human ultimately stops being a human. The same principle applies to an entire group of people, an entire nation as well.
So, should we really be wondering of how current events have become possible?
