PRAISE FOR POLEMICS

How can we talk about a subject like this without bringing up Albert Camus?
This man, in his wisdom, saw things coming. In fact, in PIRKÉ AVOT, that famous collection of sayings taken from our ancient books, including the Talmud, there's a famous saying: "Who is the wise man? He who sees what is to come".

Speaking of polemics, Camus tells us that there can be no life without dialogue. Today, dialogue has been replaced by polemics.  In other words, dispute. Indeed, this word is associated with a discussion in an aggressive tone. What we have here is a quarrel, a written debate. Its Greek origin, "polemicos" relates to war. It's not surprising that people around us, starting with journalists, are always arguing.

Another nice word from our dear Camus: Dialogue, the relationship between people, has been replaced by propaganda or polemic, which are two kinds of monologues.

In a conversation between Abbé Pierre and Alain Juppé, here's what came out: "Beyond all polemics, for me it's war. Our misery is the only war. Politics consists of choosing who to take the money from and who to give it to...the state has nothing...justice is knowing in what proportions to take and give.

War again!
And here's a blatant example from a certain Antoine Vitez: "Theater is a violently polemical art. It resembles war. Performance is always the simulacrum of a conflict". He added that travel today is polemical, and to travel is above all to stand out from the crowd.

And our century has fallen into this trap of insult. Individuals and nations alike lose their way by spouting mystifying rhetoric. I'm talking about misleading the world, giving it seductive but fallacious ideas. No more thoughtful dialogue! Just look at politics, where the adversary has become the enemy. We refuse to see him, or even to talk to him. We offend each other by insulting each other. Is this what it means to be men? I doubt it! And that's what controversy is all about.

And what has become of truth in all this? Isn't the aim of philosophy the search for truth? It certainly doesn't emerge from polemics. Let's begin to understand that we need to distance ourselves from polemics, and I include social networks, which are also victims. The famous writer Milan Kundera is the one who said that the deepest ambition of polemics is to unveil things and show what lies behind our certainties.

Speaking of truth, it was Paul Gauguin who came up with the most beautiful quote on polemics: "Truth does not emerge from polemics, but from the works we have made". I wonder why wisdom shouldn't come to the rescue and finally defuse controversy.

And what about me?

I don't contradict, I don't polemicize, I listen. I like to hear people talk about their lives, about how they got to where they are today. I'm patient, indulgent, even benevolent. I just read a passage in Georg Christof Lichtenberg's "Mirror of the Soul" that surprised me. He says:
"Dogmatics is the fertile mother of polemics.

I confess to being fed up with politics, criticism, polemics and even literature at times. Enough of these battles that make us all a little unhappy. My eyes and ears can't take it anymore. A little music, please.