Vol 7 (2021)

This special edition of B@belonline aims to be a kind of instant book on the tragic themes of 2020. During this year the world was hit by a shocking and devastating pandemic, whose effects on personal lives, communities and societies have intensified with the passage of time. Science, in all its guises, has addressed these issues. Not only technical experts and economists but also sociologists and psychologists, have provided authoritative views that have been the only compass for all of us, inhabitants of a world that suddenly became deserted. In this market square of thoughts, one voice has perhaps been missing, the philosophers’ voice, right at that time when a critical reflection from them would have been needed. But which type of philosophy? A perturbed and lost philosophy, for sure, rather than a triumphant, self-assured, certain philosophy. A philosophy of quaerere rather than affirmare, the philosophy of the “thought without barriers” espoused by Hannah Arendt. Aware of the profound influence that language and thought exert on reality, and vice versa, this edition contains a small but significant constellation of keywords. They are aimed not only at the experts but also at those who, discombobulated and in search of meaning, find in a philosophical lexicon a useful lens to comprehend current difficulties. The Atlas is split into two parts. The first focuses on the “deconstructive” keywords. Taking note of the critical situation, these words try to clarify the “negative” aspects of the pandemic. The second part, on the other hand, focuses on those keywords that can be regarded as positive. They allow us to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to build a new concept of the human community and of the biosphere. Even in a devastating pandemic some good can be found, we can learn how to face the unexpected, how to act in the future and how to act to ensure there is a future.