Philosophers are supposed to comprehend events and phenomena from a rather detached standpoint, keeping in mind useful theoretical models and precedents.
But the situation in Ukraine has made detachment difficult for me. Not only does more than half my family come from Ukraine, but I have also long been preoccupied — philosophically and personally — with the issue of nuclear and radioactive threats, centering on the Chernobyl power plant and the use of nuclear weapons.
Nonetheless, today’s circumstances demand clear thinking. As I argued in my 2021 book "Senses of Upheaval," in a chapter titled “The Unfinished Collapse of the Soviet Union,” we need to develop “a robust philosophy of history” capable of accounting for historical “gaps, protracted subterranean processes, and time lags between causes and effects.”