Existential Tuesday: Do we really need hierarchies in society?

Why do we shape our societies into hierarchies?

We separate power, privilege, and responsibility into different layers everywhere: within and between governments, families, genders, institutions, education, and so on. In fact, humans create hierarchies not just among themselves, but between different animals, plants, and materials; even ideas, behaviors, religions, entire cultures and ethnicities have been ranked and ordered across history.

That history is paired with a mixed legacy of great accomplishments and terrible oppression. The central question we’re asking today is, why do we do this? Do we really need to create hierarchies of power? Or is another form of organization possible?

EXISTENTIAL TUESDAYS

Existential Tuesdays are small bi-weekly discussions in the Nook of the TUD Library. Practice your critical thinking skills, learn to see the world from different perspectives, and hang out with your fellow deep thinkers in Delft.

Interested in other events in the Nook? Sign up for the newsletter to find out what else we’re planning.

Check out SG’s related events this quarter on the theme: Posthumanism

According to posthumanism, animals, plants, and objects have rights. Humans are merely part of a greater network in which all things are essentially equal. This requires looking at the world in an entirely different way. Is this the solution to all major crises in the Anthropocene? In this series, through talks, discussions, and art, we’ll explore the consequences of adapting a posthuman worldview.

This theme is part of the series For Love of the World, in which we explore alternative stories and forgotten knowledge that can (re)connect us to our world.

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