Horsemen of the Apocalypse: About Three Visions of Threats to Contemporary Western Culture

Abstract

The author of this article compares three visions of modern thinkers who, observing the present world, see in it the threat of the coming apocalypse, in understanding the end of humanity in its traditional form. An uprooted and lost man not knowing his own culture faces the question: who is he? In the impossibility of answering, he becomes like unaware children who, living in ignorance, remain beyond the possibility of both condemnation and salvation. However, these children are in the process of growing up. When they reach maturity, they look for themselves, trying to become like others, but those others are in the same situation as them. Hence, a society of indefinite citizens, who, in danger, accuse one another, so that everyone becomes a scapegoat of which should be sacrificed to save the majority. Then everyone becomes the so-called homo sacer, a victim who has no right, not even the right to live. To prevent this, the three thinkers call for a return to forms of culture, where humanity is presented in a holistic form and by depicting it, modern man can create his identity.