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Stumbling upon a random selection of songs that constitute my favorite music and lyrics, I rediscovered a pop track from 2020 that had left a profound impact on me: “Paradigme” by the band La Femme. The opening verses, “Dans la nuit froide, je pleure des larmes de glace / Pas une lueur d’espoir là où je passe,” “In the cold night, I shed tears of ice / Not a glimmer of hope where I pass,” lead us to a chorus that talks of “paradigms that fade to celebrate nothingness and madness.” Undeniably, without paradigms, whatever they might be, making sense of the world becomes downright impossible, for without paradigms, connections cannot be made, and meaning recedes. This is sheer insanity.
A Focus on Definition
Etymologically, the term “paradigm,” from the ancient Greek paradeigma, refers to a model, a sort of “template” with which we approach, observe, and study the world to construct representations of it. Specifically, within the context of the philosophy of science, or epistemology, a paradigm is illuminated by the thought currents, the conceptual framework, and the theoretical model in which it is rooted. Naturally, the scientific discoveries that occur throughout human history often engender a paradigm shift, although such a change can be arduous. Thus, paradigms are fluid, evolving in step with the progress and development of the world. American epistemologist Thomas Kuhn exemplifies this with the discipline of physics, constructed on a succession of paradigms, including determinism, empiricism, relativity, refutability, or a more enlightening example of astronomy, which transitioned from a geocentric paradigm (Aristotle and Ptolemy) to a heliocentric one (Copernicus) during the Scientific Revolution of the 16th century. In this vein, the history of astronomy is punctuated by at least two antagonistic paradigms. This is similarly true for cosmology, which shifted from the paradigm of the universe’s infinity to the paradoxical paradigm of a continually expanding universe since its inception, yet marked by finiteness. Today, the paradigm of potentially infinite multiverses springs from our finite universe.
The social sciences associate the paradigm with the concept of Weltanschauung (a comprehensive view of life and the human condition in the world). The term encompasses all beliefs, values, and experiential journeys that impact how an individual perceives reality and the world, and how they react to that perception. In other words, a paradigm is also the way the world is “received” by us, its inhabitants.
From René Descartes (1596–1650) to Edgar Morin (1921 –)
In the 17th century, the French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher René Descartes endeavored to break away from Scholastic philosophy, which he deemed overly speculative and thus risky, in favor of a new paradigm capable of safeguarding against errors through a four-step method: evidence, reductionism, causality, and exhaustiveness. In his Discourse on the Method, Descartes illuminates the substantial dualism between body and mind, introducing the paradigm of binary opposition that persisted for many centuries (despite numerous thinkers and scientists over the ensuing decades opposing Cartesian dualism).
In the 20th century, thanks to thermodynamics and the emergence of the systemic model positing that all existing and enduring systems are interconnected, just as each science supports the structure of others, the paradigm of complexity (the Latin word complexus signifies “woven together”) came to the fore, notably through the work of the French sociologist and philosopher Edgar Morin. Contrary to the Cartesian paradigm, Morin speaks of “connection,” namely the urgency to now link what has been reduced, separated, disjointed, supposedly sterilized of all errors. Any object to be studied should always be approached as a complex system, with a multitude of parameters, supplanting causal explanation with holistic understanding. Furthermore, as per Morin, there can be no definitive, unquestionable, and perfect truth in the postmodern world, with evidence replaced by relevance, and the sole method to endorse and follow giving way to a continual reorientation in approaching an undeniably complex and uncertain world.
Lebanon: The Omnipotence of Binary Opposition
The American organizational theorist Peter Drucker posits that “the greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence itself, but to act with yesterday’s logic.” Drawing on this quote, let’s consider the Lebanese case—a case that is complex and indeed complicated. It goes without saying. But how do we choose to approach our richness-embodying complexity and myriad complications? Well, through the reductive, causal, and obsolete paradigm of Cartesian binary opposition. Just like the dualism advocated by Descartes, if some hold the truth, others are in error; if some are children of light, others are children of darkness; if some are pro-Palestinian, others must necessarily be pro-Israeli; if some have a vision and a project for the country, others can only be engaged in conspiracy and treason; if some consider themselves powerful, others must accept being wronged; if some are corrupt and murderers, others are as white as newborn lambs; and so forth. Instances of this kind are legion and cannot all be enumerated. Moreover, I have no pretensions of achieving Cartesian exhaustiveness.
Within this paradigmatic framework, how can we hope to free ourselves from disjunction, distressing reductionism, and alienating causality? How can we plan to evolve and keep pace with the world’s march? How can we work to harness our complexity, turning it into our holistic strength? The answers to these questions fall within the negative phrasing.
Unless we look at our country from a different perspective, one that would allow us to acknowledge that the choice of a binary paradigm is merely a deceptive veneer to mask the horrifying reality of the total absence of any paradigm in our comprehension of our current predicament. If so, it would be, as mentioned above, sheer insanity. And if that is the case, let’s return to the song “Paradigme” by La Femme: at least music would be able to somewhat mollify our madness…
