We Barcelonans like to think things, or at least, that's what can be inferred from the success of the turnout one admires at philosophical conferences in places like the CCCB or the Ateneu, to which must be added the celebration of specialized events in everyday metaphysics such as the Biennal del Pensament or Barcelona Pensa. We should be pleased that our city is a pioneer in the art of reasoning. As for the first initiative, which has had literally multitudinous events over the years, I have been surprised by the notorious decrease in philosophers on its current program and the fact that most media have exclusively reviewed events starring writers and excellent speakers from other artistic disciplines. This is not an article with a guild vocation, as philosophy has always been nourished by other disciplines. On the contrary, it is an important wake-up call to my dearest sect.
In fact, one of the great things about philosophy is that it repels the professional aspect required by most trades. Throughout history, thinkers have always come from other occupations, almost never earning their fricandó through their texts, and even the philosophical superstars of the present must survive with the penance of the classrooms. In turn, it should be insisted that academic philosophy (a fairly recent invention, in historical terms, more of the 20th century) never held the monopoly of thought. In this sense, I feel perfectly comfortable with a filmmaker or a playwright being able to approach metaphysical clouds without any complex. In turn, who knows if the unhealthy specialization of my guild (added to a barely disguised cryptic will that does not always imply quality) has ended up alienating it from contemporary debates that arise among citizens.
In the case of the Biennal, it is notorious to see how (despite the presence of discipline totems like Jacques Rancière or the less media-savvy but very interesting Yankee Joan C. Tronto), most of the career philosophers who stand out in its program have dedicated themselves to gender issues; this is the case of more than notable professors like Chiara Bottici and Oyèrónké Oyèwùmi. In turn, it is also important to highlight how some important discussions for the citizen debate ---in terms such as national occupation, the emancipatory power of culture or the future of metropolises--- do not have the voice of thinkers and, more specifically, of philosophers from our tribe. It can be argued that our learned academics have not dedicated too many efforts to topics often associated with journalistic urgency (which would not be true) but, if one thinks so, the best way to alleviate it would be to offer them a platform.
All these amendments, I will say it ad nauseam, do not require any quota nor do they mean to imply that the curators of the Biennal (the esteemed Xavier Fina, Raül Garrigasait and Mar Rosàs) feel contempt for the philosophical academy. A festival can have all the stars of the philosophical-editorial world and great public acceptance but, nevertheless, become a banal product of little interest. But the trend marks a certain discomfort between academic thinkers and the world of the citizen agora that this event would try to represent. In this sense, I must be critical, I say it again, with my brotherhood, often too pleased with itself (especially in the university sphere!) and with continuing to vomit unreadable publications, theses and tomes with the aim that no damn God reads them. Philosophy is a difficult art, but this does not exclude putting it in contact with a public eager for ideas.
In this sense, the only union temptation that the Biennal poster generates in me (if you allow me an exercise in negative dialectics) is to highlight the scarce reaction that the exclusion of those on my side has generated among colleagues. I don't like to play the delicate one, but I would say that I have been one of the few who has noticed the fact. I denounce this indifference, because we can lose the pretense of a monopoly on thinking; but at least, collons, let's disguise our idleness a little! That said, let's think about it calmly, let's self-criticize... and, being of the trade, let's console ourselves by remembering that ---deep down--- we have always been a minority everywhere. Sometimes, alas, fortunately for everyone.