Philosophical Truths
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How a Crisis Can Be Used As a Seedbed for Philosophical Truths
Introduction
A crisis can lead people to think and that so badly. When there is a crisis, there is need to get solutions in order to move on. With the coming up of these solutions, new truths emerge that become the basis of philosophical truths. In this paper, I am going to examine how a crisis was used as a seedbed for philosophical formulations in the world.
Handling a crisis
When there are crises, people begin to think of ways to come with sustainable solutions to the crisis. For instance, Marxist philosophy came as a reaction to the crisis caused by capitalism. The idea was to find a way of dealing with the social classes that had been occasioned by capitalism. The political class was seen to be in some way exploiting the masses economically leading to inequalities that were untenable.
In looking at the capitalism crisis Marx tried to address, we find that the political economy had a cultural implication (Fornas, 2014). Marx criticism of political economy targets the material exploitation and domination (Ibid). We find from these came profound truths in regards to the economy and how the masses and the leaders relate. Marx tried to look into a society where the economy is not controlled by a few bourgeois classes while the rest of the people have to live at their mercies.
Reynolds & Seeger (2012) are of the view that disaster test emergency response capabilities. Therefore, when a disaster strikes a discussion ensues on how it should be handled. There is also a debate on how these disasters should be handled should they arise again in future. This discussion becomes the basis of formulation of some new philosophical truths that dictate the crisis management.
In their definition, Reynolds and Seeger view crisis as something that occurs unexpectedly, may not be in the organization’s control, requires an immediate response and may cause harm to an organization’s reputation, image or viability (Reynolds & Seeger, 2012). Since, according to this definition a crisis is unexpected; it follows that the ways of dealing with it will lead to the emergence of some truths. These truths that are developed become the accepted ways of dealing with such a crisis. We also note that the crisis has the ability to harm an organizations reputation, image or even viability. The process of protecting this image therefore will mean that those dealing with the crisis will have to come up with core truths that will somehow protect the organization from damage. The crisis then has given a good basis for developing profound truths that never existed before.
For example, the crisis of Bhopal gas leak in India led the company to face some serious challenges. The company was blamed on how it dealt with the crisis. This led to some legal implications for the company as well as negative public reactions for many years (Reynolds & Seeger, 2012). We find in this situation the crisis became a basis for judging the company. People had formulated some truths which they used to judge the company and these led to a serious challenge for the company for several years.
Some crises are of a natural cause. For instance Hurricane Katrina in the USA which caused international outcry affected the US government a great deal. The dealing of it was under the scrutiny of the eye of every person around the globe. The humanitarian crisis caused by this disaster not withstanding, the authorities response to the crisis was of utmost importance. It determined the affected people’s perception of their government. This not only affected the affected people but also the rest of the country and the entire world at large. These perceptions and preparedness for other natural disasters led to formulation of some core truths on disaster preparedness and how to deal with natural disasters in not only America but also the entire world.
In dealing with natural disaster, which can cause a major crisis, especially on humanitarian grounds, the leaders’ response might be evacuating a community in advance of a hurricane. The leaders may not be necessarily facing a threat to their reputation or image. However, the need to protect human life and dignity are plausible justifications for such a response. The effort to warn the public is universally recognized as important (Reynold & Seeger, 2012). We find here a universal truth that has been formulated as a result of having to deal with the crisis caused by natural disasters such as hurricanes. Therefore, crisis management becomes a strong foundation for formulating philosophical truths about dealing with life.
Crisis management has therefore become a vocal point of charting a way forward for the threats facing an organization. The organization has to deal with some truths related to the crisis in order for it to have another lifeline. In this crisis management, phase, the organization will come up with strategies that will work in future. As soon as a company faces a crisis, the media becomes very alert and all its attention is focused on it. This media attention though in bad taste gives the company an opportunity to reinforce itself strategically and work on its values (Taffel, 2007). Taffel says an effective crisis management should be able to acknowledge the ugly truths of the situation. However, the balancing of these truths with a constant, more positive information flow that demonstrates the organization’s effective handling of the situation, and its empathy for those affected is crucial (Taffel, 2007). This proves that the company is in control. In this therefore we see crisis management has become a foundation of developing fundamental truths.
The dealing of crisis caused by the crisis in most countries of the world especially in Middle East have become a major points of discussing world truths. A case in point is Iraq and how America dealt with this crisis. Looking at the crisis in Iraq Jenkins begins by quoting Dee Brown, “The white man made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept them, except one: they promised to take our land and they took it.” (Jenkins, 2003). Jenkins views the main problem with Iraq as oil. It is the main source of income and wealth for Iraqis. Therefore, the one who controls oil controls the country. He sees Iraq’s oil as the major cause of division in the land (Jenkin, 2003). Suffice it to say that the main reason for the attack against Iraq could have been oil. This natural resource has proven a disaster for many countries. We see in this therefore some truths in international relations caused by the crisis in these countries.
Conclusion
Crisis is therefore major bedrock in formulating truths. Philosophers get a rich ground to develop philosophies that govern the dealing with these crises. We cannot therefore remove crisis in the formulation of core truths in the world. These crises form the basis on which people judge their world.
References
Fornas, J. (2014) Capitalism: Current crisis and cultural critique. Linköping University Electronic Press Culture Unbound: ISSN 2000-1525 (online)
Jenkins, P. (2003) Seedbed of Civilization: Sumer, Babylon, Baghdad and Iraq. Retrieved June 15th, 2014, http://www.palden.co.uk/iraq.html
Reynolds, B. & Seeger, M. (2012) Crisis Emergency risk communication Retrieved June 15th, 2014 http://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/pdf/CERC_2012edition.pdf
Taffel, A. (2007) Public relations during a crisis: Balancing truths. Retrieved June 15th, 2014 http://www.entrepreneurship.org/resource-center/public-relations-during-a-crisis-balancing-truths.aspx