Tragical Wisdom Of A Revolution Essay Samples

Michail Bakunin was a great revolutionary and so was his political thought. He lived in Tsarist Russia in 19th century and was fighting against any form of state organization in favor of a common to mankind fraternity. Revolution for Bakunin was a key word of human existence. He is known for the idea of collective anarchism. The Russian revolutionary proclaimed that a will to revolt is the most natural thing in the world by stating that “Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it”. In this essay I will connect this quote and its meaning to a reflection on Antient Greek tragedy and the nature of wisdom and relate Bakunin’s phrase to this source.
A person under someone’s authority must defend him/herself. It is like a natural reflex to protect yourself and protest against any sort of oppression coming from above and conflicting with your ideas. This radical theory was caused by the reality of life in Tsar’s Russia with its strict rules and limitations. In people’s case to revolt means to rebel and take violent actions against an established government or ruler.
For Bakunin, the ability to revolt against authority is the core idea which represents that revolution is as natural as fighting against a suppressing element. In his writings Bakunin rejected the superiority of power of a person over other people and was against the hierarchical system of society. He went far in his philosophy stating that there should be no privileged people and no class division. All forms of social organization, like state or church, according to him, are not good as they have a hierarchical structure and contradict the very basic human instincts.
Thinking more generally and comparing Bakunin’s thought to the reading about Aristotle, Poetics and philosophical wisdom, the instinct to revolt against the pressure can be interpreted with both positive and negative consequences. Every human being even an animal has a certain dignity and self-esteem which causes the confrontation and a desire of revolution. It is stated in Metaphysics that in order to survive humans use their senses, mostly their sight. We can say that is is the same for animal, as some of them have their senses much more developed than people. For Bakunin the desire to revolt is the same for animals and humans. It is like a sixth sense. He takes an example of a worm, a tiny spineless animal, which knows how to escape a “crushing foot” even without deep analysis. Therefore every animal follows the same principle. In has a positive element of self-preservation and natural rule of survival, but for people a revolution does not often have positive results, but roads of spilled blood.
But humans are distinguished from animals by their brain and wisdom. It starts with a wonder, a desire to philosophize and as it is stated in the Anthology “All men by nature desire to know”. For people it is not enough to live following instincts, humans should use the brain, simply because they possess one. The process of truth-seeking is not easy, but for Bakunin, truth is evident for everybody, including animals who feel the disturbing authority of a “crushing foot”.
According to the text from Bedford Anthology, the difference between animals and people lies in the ability to understand art and reason things. While for animals memories and impressions play the decisive role, humans are able to analyze and compare various experiences. Analyzing is the nature of wisdom is the key ability humans can use in order to live better. Therefore people by its nature are forced to object the power and build a community without any hierarchy or class division. A similar idea can be found in the analyzed source. For the author of the text on Metaphysics the power of reason is dimmed by the most self-evident things. Although he/she states that collective reasoning helps to grasp truth, that is why people should be organized in groups and think together. A similar idea was taken by Bakunin, who believed in a collective form of living and protesting. A revolution is never done by one person, it must be a mass movement in order to crush an existing regime.
Thinking of a tragedy and comparing its essence with Bakunin’s words one may say that incidents form a revolution, build up its structure – a plot. The plot has an important role in a tragedy, it consists of dramatic action, the introduction, the middle and the end. The first part must be delivered in a way to be continued, but the end should be opposite to it – have nothing left to say. It is exactly the same with a revolution. Every rebel must have a logical evolution and development of events.
As tragedy is the imitation of an action, the revolution can be also an imitation. For instance, it can be the imitation of fight, incidents and a search for equal rights society. Bakunin’s idea of collective anarchism corresponds with the reading in a way it also suggests to act collectively, in a group, as actors in a tragedy. There is not one hero, that makes a tragedy working but the whole plot in its unity. Even more, characters are not so important. In my opinion, a revolution can be compared to a spectacle. It also has a certain structure, includes some parts which cannot be excluded, takes some time to be performed and attracts people’s attention. A certain sequence of events must be followed in order to revolt.