Jürgen Habermas passed away recently, on March 14, 2026. Renowned in the social field for his contribution to the theory of communicative action, famous, in the economic field, for his reflections on the “colonization of the world of life”, a tireless fighter to make philosophy more present in the social sphere, his theory of well-being, his great capacity for dialogue, his innumerable works... An intellectual, a philosopher, has passed away at the age of 96.
There is an inordinate eagerness in society, especially in the world of education, to get leaders out from under the rocks. It seems that we all have the vocation to be leaders. I don't know... I hear so much talk about leaders... and then, what do I see? I see many things, but I don't see leaders, neither in politics, nor in social life, nor in the world of culture, ... Perhaps our mouths are full of that word that sounds more and more hollow to me: leadership. I think that those who have to be leaders should be so, but it seems to me that it is not a vocation, a mission that we all have to follow, no matter how many leadership courses we take. I am sorry to say it, but I think so: not all of us can or are called to be leaders. I think it is a minority vocation. Well then, courage! to those who meet the conditions.
We need thinkers, philosophy, to think more and perform less, as the Korean Byung-Chul Han suggests in almost all his works. We need to love our world more, contemplate it, stop to see it, slow down, decelerate, “waste more time” looking at it, appreciating it, beautifying it and not only yielding productivity and efficiency. We have too many leaders who claim to be leaders, and we lack thinkers, philosophers who rescue the ideal of truth in an era that is said to be post-truth.
A few years ago Lou Marinoff wrote More Plato and less prozac. In my opinion, he hit the nail on the head. Much of the world has created the need for antidepressants, which in the end may be an escape from the truth itself, or an escape from pain, not physical pain, but from the pain caused by not knowing how to live well, but the great drug is truth, beauty and goodness.
Another substitute for truth, goodness and beauty could be (I am not pontificating but suggesting a reflection) gyms, places where one cultivates the body in solitude, listening to music, and in the background isolating oneself from society, from friends, from family. Sometimes yoga also tries to replace the pain of life. And the new unhealthy wave of search for leaders in all corners of the planet, that is, for highly effective people to solve problems, is like a hope that does not arrive, nor will it arrive. Why? Because problems are the spice of human life. We must not eliminate them, that would be naïve, we must know how to live with them, accept them, learn to manage them, grow with them.
Philosophy, loving the truth and seeking and living it is irreplaceable. The leader seeks success, the philosopher seeks truth and beauty. But, as Leonardo Polo said, “all success is premature”.
How success attracts and how lazy it is to search for the truth! Because the truth does not pay, for many. Success... who can refuse any proposal that leads to success? Let us not forget where the word success comes from. It comes from exit. And so it is, it takes us out of reality, it isolates us because it puts us on a supposed pedestal, it elevates us in the triumphal cloud.
Look for a moment at these people who have changed history, some for the better, some for the worse. Socrates, Jesus Christ, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas, Descartes, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, Edith Stein, Heidegger, Ratzinger, ... good old Habermas... And now... search in their writings (although neither Socrates nor Jesus Christ wrote anything, more in my favor) the word success, and see if you succeed in your search.
Let's hope we can draw conclusions...
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