Les maladies infectieuses donnent naissance à la philosophie

In January 2020, the corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) spread around the world. More than 14.95 million people have been infected and about 610,000 have died on July 23, 2020 (Mainichi Japan Journal). In Japan, a state of emergency has been declared, refraining from going out and demands for store closings have been implemented. In Japan, more than 27,881 people have been affected and 1,003 have died. These numbers represent more than 3.90 million people infected and around 140,000 deaths in the United States, but with the likelihood that this will increase by tens of thousands in no time, we must be vigilant. I wrote this document with caution and for future consideration. In terms of infectious diseases and philosophy, the ‘Athens disease’ (circa BC430) in Thucydides’s “History of the Peloponnesian War” is famous when Socrates was 40 years old. There are several theories about this infection, but I guess it is Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The tragedy is said to have killed 1,000 of the 4,000 soldiers. The infectious disease and the war lasted for about 30 years. As a result, all of Greece was burned, pillaged, murder became routine, and people experienced despair, darkness and nothingness. At this background, the Greeks sought justice, peace, love and human ideals. Then the philosophy was established. In front of the wonders of nature, humans are powerless and nothing like Pascal also said. Socrates experienced and learned the nothingness of this situation in military service, so he grasped and explained the ignorance. His theory led to Plato, Aristotle and the height of Greek philosophy. This continues in modern times. The tribulation of an infectious disease gave birth to philosophy. The corona virus is also a crisis of the human race in the world, but it is a sign of the emergence of a new philosophy, where it has started.