Civilizational Collapse and the Philosophy of Post-Apocalyptical Survival

Typically, apocalyptic literature highlights two books: The Book of Daniel (Chapter 7–12) written in Hebrew and Aramaic in about 167 BCE, as an account of Daniel’s activities and visions – an exiled Jew living in the 6th century under Babylonian rule – that became part of the Tanakh; and The Book of Revelations, the final book of the New Testament and the only apocalyptic literature, sometimes known as Apocalypse of John, purports to be written by John of Patmos, that contains moral admonitions to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, and a second part full of visions, allegories and symbols. As a political and cosmological portrayal of the end times, The Book of Daniel tells of how the God of Israel saves him and will save all Israel from its oppression. The Book of Revelation depicts the end of the world and the victory of God over Satan in the face of the crisis of faith brought about by Roman oppression. The place of both books in their respective canons has been hotly disputed as they depart from the historical, narrative and didactic style of biblical literature. The Book of Ezekiel, also from the Old Testament, registers threats against Judah and Jerusalem, and foreign nations, and the prophecy of restoration. The origins of Jewish apocalypticism are found in apocalyptic motifs in texts not included in the Tenach, the so-called ‘Hebrew Bible’ (Klawans and Wills 2020) and also at Qumram, the site of a community where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947–1956 thought to be inhabited by the Essenes, a mystic Jewish sect that lived during the Second Temple period (516 BCE–70 CE). Scholars have claimed that early apocalyptic motifs are found in Canaanite mythology, Akkadian prophecy, Egyptian literature and Jerusalem temple theology, with borrowings from Hellenistic syncretism and Zoroastrianism.² These sources helped to shape the genre of apocalyptic literature as a pseudonymous, revelatory narrative that employs a teleological view of history, and pessimistic view of the present to foretell a future transcendent and utopian restoration and freedom through ‘the use of ex eventu prophecy’ (Taylor) violent imagery and allegories of disaster.

John J. Collins (2002) in his study of The Book of Daniel remarks, ‘Daniel was probably composed latest of the books of the Hebrew Tenach, but few books have been more influential in western history’ (p. 1). He indicates that Daniel is the only book in the Hebrew Bible that speaks of individual resurrection and the vision of ‘one like the son of man’ providing the imagery for the Second Coming of the New Testament. It was read up to the Enlightenment as a political history that revealed coded predictions of western history, and in the philosophical hermeneutics of the post-Enlightenment, it has increasingly been read as a collection of imaginative stories and visions about the fears and resistance of Jews in the Hellenistic period (Portier-Young 2011). Daniel’s traditional fundamentalist scholarship has gradually given way to an interpretation that serves more as a witness of religious history of the time rather than ‘a prophecy of western political history’ (p. 2). As Collins (1984) explains, ‘Apocalyptic ideas undeniably played an important role in the early stage of Christianity and, more broadly, in the Judaism of the time’ and yet ‘the primary apocalyptic texts have received only sporadic attention and are often avoided or ignored by biblical scholarship’ (p. 1). The fact is that apocalyptic texts have been ‘associated with fanatical millennian expectation’, and he suggests that modern scholarship ‘distinguishes between apocalypse as a literary genre, apocalypticism as a social ideology, and apocalyptic eschatology’ (p. 2). The term ‘apocalyptic’ as a genre only became established in the second century with The Book of Revelations. Specifically, apocalypse is defined as ‘genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework, in which a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being to a human recipient, disclosing a transcendent reality which is both temporal, insofar as it envisages eschatological salvation, and spatial insofar as it involves another, supernatural world’ (Collins, 1979: 2). The form of the narrative describes the manner of revelation through visions and otherworldly journeys, and angel provides an interpretation of the vision.

Hegel’s lectures on the philosophy of history were delivered between 1822 and 1831 and were posthumously published by his students in three volumes between 1837 and 1840. The lectures were a culmination of his lifelong work on the history of philosophy and sought to provide a comprehensive philosophical account of human history. The lectures are considered a fundamental work in the philosophy of history and have had a significant impact on subsequent philosophical and historical scholarship. The lectures are divided into three main parts: the Introduction; the History of the Oriental World; and the History of the Greek, Roman and German Worlds. The Introduction is an essential part of the lectures and presents Hegel’s ideas on historical development and the concept of Reason. Hegel argued that history was a teleological process in which humanity progresses towards self-realization and the attainment of rational freedom. Reason is the central concept that guides this progress, and the history of the world can be understood as a rational process that is driven by the inherent logic of Reason.

Hegel’s conception of Reason is complex and multifaceted. He believed that Reason was an objective force that was embedded in the world and that it could be understood as a principle of self-determination. In other words, Reason is not a subjective faculty of human consciousness but a metaphysical principle that guides the development of the world. For Hegel, the ultimate goal of history is the realization of the sovereignty of Reason, which is the complete integration of human consciousness into the objective reality of the world. Historical, then, progress is based on the idea of perfectibility. Hegel believed that history was a process of continual improvement and that humanity was gradually progressing towards a state of rational freedom. The history of the world can be understood as a process of the realization of freedom, in which humanity gradually becomes more conscious of itself and its place in the world. Consequently, the end of history would come with the final and full rule of Reason which equals the state of entire freedom – an imagination of the end obviously without any apocalyptic notion.

The teleological process of history is divided into three stages: Original History, Reflective History and Philosophical History. Original History refers to the earliest stage of human history when human beings were not yet self-conscious and did not have a developed concept of history. Reflective History is the stage when humans become aware of their history and begin to reflect on it. Philosophical History is the final stage when human beings attain a complete understanding of history and its inherent rationality.

Instead of being associated with the universal end of the world, the idea of the apocalypse is now linked to the collapse of global systems and the emergence of new forms of social, political and economic order. Philosophy of history has been shaped by this secularization of the apocalypse. Such eschatological ends of western culture include, among others, the death of God, the end of metaphysics, the end of transcendental values, the end of modernism, of humanism, of Man, of history, of ideology, of the welfare state, of liberalism, of communism and of capitalism.

In this sense the term ‘apocalyptic thinking’ today is frequently used to describe a deep current of contemporary western philosophy that is anchored in ancient eschatologies of Judeo-Christian origins, but it is very close, if not identical, with what we have noted above as the end of history in its different notions or even a deep crisis of one or more of the dominating systems or components. The description ‘post-apocalyptic thinking’, however, was first used by Michael A. Peters (2011) in a paper he gave in Beijing and Wuhan in 2000. ‘Post’ refers to a set of discourses that proclaim ‘the end’ in apocalyptic tones. He argues that these narratives of endings and beginnings are endemic to contemporary western culture and help define both its cultural specificity and its sources of renewal. He defined post-historical thinking in much of the contemporary landscape in aesthetics, philosophy, sociology and politics.

It would, however, be wrong to assume that the post-enlightenment apocalyptic discourse completely shifted into philosophy. Theological contributions and interferences were and are ongoing and important in the field, most pointedly by the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. In the face of Nazi Germany he published a three-volume study entitled Apokalypse der deutschen Seele (Apocalypse of the German Spirit). The book discusses and criticizes apocalyptic expressions in what was at that time modern German philosophy, theology and poetry, from Lessing, Kant, Goethe, Hegel, Wagner and Nietzsche up to Scheler, Heidegger or Karl Barth (including also Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky as non-Germans). Predicated on a Christian apocalyptic belief. Balthasar understood apocalypse as an eschatological revelation whereby eschatology ‘can be defined as the teaching of the relationship of the soul to its eternal fate, whose achievement (fulfilment, alignment) is its apocalypse’.

The rise of the East, and particularly China, has also raised important questions about the nature of global civilization. Some scholars have argued that China represents a new model of civilization, one that is distinct from the Western model of liberal democracy and free-market capitalism. The Chinese model is based on a strong central government, a focus on economic development, and a distinct cultural identity. Some have argued that this model may be more successful in the long term, as it is better suited to the challenges of the 21st century (Peters, 2021).

The trade-tech wars between the United States and China reflect this new era of system rivalry. These wars are characterized by a series of disputes over trade practices, intellectual property rights and technology transfer. The United States has accused China of engaging in unfair trade practices and of stealing American intellectual property. China, in turn, has accused the United States of using its economic and political power to suppress China’s rise as a global power.

Altogether, the emergence of two parallel world regimes is crucial to this new era of system rivalry. The Western world, led by the United States, represents one regime, while China and its allies represent the other. These two regimes have different values, political systems and economic models, which reflect the different historical experiences and cultural traditions of their respective societies. With the actual political shifts in northern Eurasia, triggered by the Russian attack on Ukraine, it is not yet clear whether and which of the territories of the former Soviet Union will follow the Western or the Asian path in this emerging dualistic world order.

The threat of system collapse has become a prominent feature of contemporary apocalyptic narratives and fuels several movies of the apocalyptic genre. Many people believe that the world’s systems are becoming increasingly fragile and that a single catastrophic event could trigger a cascading series of failures that would lead to the collapse of the global system. Especially the world’s ecosystems are perceived as becoming increasingly vulnerable and that the loss of any single species or habitat could trigger a chain reaction that would lead to the collapse of the entire ecosystem. This narrative is supported by scientific evidence that suggests that the world’s ecosystems are under stress from a variety of sources, including climate change, habitat destruction and pollution. The cascading world ecology narrative reflects a growing awareness of the interconnectedness of the natural with the cultural worlds and the potentially devastating consequences of human actions on the world’s systems, including the economy, the environment, the health sector and the political system. As the world becomes more complex, the potential for unexpected interactions and feedback loops increases, making it more difficult to predict the behaviour of the system.

The possibility of a global collapse of human civilization is a pressing issue that seems to be supported by multiple historical examples which allow for the interpretation of ecological collapse. Biologist Jared Diamond in his bestseller of 2005 identifies several cultures in history that either actively destroyed their ecological fundaments (e.g. Easter Islands) of at least were unable to adapt to a natural change in their ecological living conditions (e.g. the Norse Greenlanders). Although Diamond has received much contradiction and repeatedly draws on outdated or selective literature (McAnany and Yoffee 2010; Faulseit 2016), his book has a deep impact on the broader public as it proves the possibility of ecologically triggered system collapse as a historical reality. The current situation, from socio-political problems to climate change, again is evidence of growing systemic instabilities that pose a serious threat to the capacity of human populations to maintain themselves in a sustainable environment.

Many analyses of the current situation are circulating, and there are even more suggestions on how to deal with it. Among many others, Pablo Servigne and Raphaël Stevens (2020) in How Everything Can Collapse: A Manual for Our Times examine the scientific evidence that connects the Anthropocene to our everyday lives. The authors show that the crises we face today could produce a collapse of our entire civilization and that we need to make a transition to building local resilience. The authors argue that collapse is not the end but the beginning of our future, where we will reinvent new ways of living in the world and being attentive to ourselves, to other human beings and to all our fellow creatures. In Another End of the World Is Possible: Living the Collapse (and Not Merely Surviving It) Raphaël Stevens, Gauthier Chapelle, Pablo Servigne and Geoffrey Samuel (2021) show that a change of course requires an inner journey and a radical rethinking of our vision of the world. The authors argue that we need to develop a new awareness of ourselves and of the world and to imagine new ways of living in it. They suggest that we can regenerate life from the ruins and create new alliances with ourselves and our inner nature, between humans, with other living beings, and with the earth on which we dwell.

The triple apocalyptic risk only highlights the current constellation of risk events. There are many such risks that overlap one another, sometimes colliding with immediate or far-distance effects or consequences for the planet. These systemic global catastrophic risks include astronomical risks, such as the heat death of the universe, virtual black holes, asteroid impacts, geomagnetic storms, solar flares, stellar collisions and interplanetary events with associated hazards of megafires or tsunamis. Biological risks include extinction, mass species extinction, genetic erosion or pollution, biodiversity loss, risks from biotechnologies, biological terrorism or war, deforestation, defaunation, pandemics, colony overpopulation, overfishing and rapacious resource use. Technological risks include cybertechnology risks such as cyberwarfare and terrorism, nanotechnologies, AI takeover and autonomous weapons, chemical and bioweapons, technological singularity and transhumanism, and science misexperimentation. Socio-political and economic risks include doomsday arguments, anthropogenic hazards, economic collapse, massive socio- economic inequalities, mounting international debt, Malthusian catastrophes, overpopulation, conspiracy theories such as the new world order, nuclear holocaust, genocide, societal and civilizational collapse, collapsology and the Third World War. Religious and eschatological risks include Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Hinduism, and the apocalypse of Abrahamic religions, Jewish messiah, The book of Daniel, The book of Revelation, Christian last judgement, historicism, anti-Christ, new earth, new Jerusalem, resurrection, world to come, rapture and negative theology. Cultural and literary risks include the end times, apocalypse, apocalypticism, Armageddon, messianism, millennialism, philosophical apocalypse, disaster movies, post-apocalyptic fiction and science fiction, and zombie culture.

These risks and their associated discourses often coalesce and magnify one another, sometimes as a lens or perspective and sometimes as an obfuscation or conspiracy. This list does not mention academic resources in the physical, life, and social sciences or humanities that are useful in understanding and analysing systemic global risks, although the relatively new emphasis on systems theory, cybernetics, complexity and ecosystem theory indicates a multidisciplinary curriculum required to tackle these problems in a systematic way. One major problem is the perennial difficult relationship between academia and public policy and world action.

Self-reliance is also a key factor in post-apocalyptic survival. While community and cooperation are important, survivors must also be able to fend for themselves when necessary. They must be able to find food, water and shelter on their own, and be willing to take risks to secure these basic necessities. This is often portrayed in post-apocalyptic narratives, where characters must venture out into the dangerous world to scavenge for supplies, hunt for food or search for other survivors.

It is important to approach these beliefs with a critical and open mind, and to recognize that while some elements of prepping and survivalism may be useful for preparing for emergencies, extreme beliefs about the end of the world can be harmful and may prevent individuals from fully engaging with the world around them in meaningful ways.

Despite the dystopian worlds of post-apocalyptic literature are little attractive to live in, this genre also highlights the importance of hope and resilience. In a world where everything seems bleak and hopeless, survivors must find ways to hold onto their humanity and their sense of purpose. They must be able to find meaning in their struggle and to believe that there is still a chance for a better future. This is evident in many post-apocalyptic narratives, where characters who have lost everything continue to fight on, driven by a sense of purpose or a desire to protect their loved ones. In a critical perspective, the values that motivate these characters are often rooted in a very traditional, masculine and Western vision of the world and the place of humans in it.

The popularity of post-apocalyptic narratives speaks to worst-case scenarios and the darker side of human nature when society has broken down and predators prey on the weak. While these stories can be unsettling, they also offer valuable insights into the nature of human survival and the resilience of the human spirit. Whether we are facing a global pandemic, climate change or some other existential threat, these stories remind us of the importance of community, adaptability, self-reliance and hope in times of crisis.

The philosophy of post-apocalyptic survival explores the ways in which the apocalypse has been and is represented in popular culture, focusing on science fiction and dystopian literature as a source of simulation and prophecy. These genres are particularly well-suited to exploring apocalyptic themes, as they allow writers and readers to imagine alternative worlds and to experiment with different forms of social organization. Science fiction has often been associated with utopian visions of the future, but in recent years it has become more focused on dystopian scenarios, reflecting a growing sense of pessimism about the future. These representations of the apocalypse are not simply escapist fantasies but are also an expression of our collective anxieties about the future in the face of the failure of communism and capitalism, technological progress and enlightenment alike. While Joachim Fest (1991) concludes the end of utopia from the death of these grand readings of history (Geschichtsdeutungen), Jean-François Lyotard (1984) in his book The Postmodern Condition states that the collapse of these grand narratives of modernity has left us with a sense of apocalyptic uncertainty about the future. In particular, contemporary representations of apocalypse in popular media can be seen as a response to the failure of modernity’s grand narratives, which promised progress, stability and certainty, but which have been undermined by globalization, technological change and the ecological crisis. Today the utopian apocalypses of the Bible, Hegel and Marx have stripped off their promises of better if not perfect worlds and turned into dystopian infernos without any hope of salvation – into ‘docked apocalypses’ (kupierte Apokalypsen – Vondung 1984), which themselves constitute a grand narrative of a doomed present tumbling into a desperate future.