The World Needs a New Philosophy

Tango, like a single drop in the vast ocean of human civilization, reflects both the beauty and the contamination of our world. The issues we face in tango today are not merely confined to the dance—they mirror the broader challenges confronting humanity.

Just as our perception of tango shapes the way we dance, our self-perception shapes how we live and behave. Over millions of years of evolution, humankind has gradually distinguished itself from the animal kingdom. The essence of that difference can be captured in a single word: humanity. Our understanding of humanity reached its pinnacle during the Renaissance, between the 14th and 17th centuries. In contrast to today’s often distorted portrayals, the Renaissance celebrated the dignity, nobility, and beauty of the human spirit. This reawakening inspired revolutions against oppression, the rise of democracy, an explosion of creativity, scientific and technological breakthroughs, and the birth of modern civilization.

Yet, amid this progress, humanity has become increasingly alienated from itself. We have left our mark on every corner of the Earth. Farmlands replaced forests, cities supplanted farmlands, pollution displaced purity, materialism overtook idealism, extravagance superseded simplicity, competition replaced cooperation, stress overshadowed enjoyment, monopolies usurped sharing, corruption supplanted integrity, legalism overrode common sense, and individualism displaced fraternity. Self-interest and entitlement have eroded communal values and collective responsibility. Sexual liberation has challenged marriage, transgender identities have emerged in contrast to natural genders, and single-parent and same-sex families have redefined the traditional family. GMOs and synthetic foods have substituted natural nourishment, the virtual economy has overtaken the real economy, games have replaced classics, artificial intelligence has eclipsed human intelligence, and machines have displaced people.

Modernization, for all its promises, has estranged us from both nature and our own humanity. Our ecosystems are ravaged, the environment irreversibly damaged, natural resources depleted. Traditional moral values are subverted, and society is increasingly divided—by race, gender, interest groups, political factions, and nations. Ironically, the very liberty that once propelled humanity to greatness now seems to be driving us toward division, conflict, war, and self-destruction. (See Tango Is the Search for a Dream.)

I hope that someday, values like returning to nature, conservation, environmental responsibility, humanism, collectivism, equality, fraternity, cooperation, shared purpose, and harmony will supplant the ideals of egoism, radical individualism, unchecked liberalism, consumerism, materialism, self-interest, competition, aggression, power politics, conquest, and the obsession with winning. But by then, it may be too late.

The world needs a new philosophy—one not defined by narrow, self-centered, and unbalanced ideologies, but by a renewed idealism that can guide humanity toward fraternity, solidarity, generosity, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence. Hopefully, tango will play a positive role in the return of humanity, because it embodies the values that make us human. (See Philosophies that Separate Two Worlds.)