Gurevich, P. S. Stupidity as the Sister of Absurdity

Abstract: The author views stupidity as a social phenomenon. He analyzes gnoseological, social and psychological sources of this phenomenon. He also underlines that stupidity is difficult to be recognized because stupidity accompanies the mind and the mind always finds an excuse for stupidity using rather unexpected arguments. Meanwhile stupidity has many faces and is quite dangerous. The author of the article provides an insight into how stupidity has been viewed in the cultural history and analyzes Erasmus Roterodamus’ work The Praise of Folly and Kant’s thoughts regarding this phenomenon. In his research the author uses historical and phenomenological methods of viewing the problem. He also carries out the comparative analysis of interpretations of stupidity at different epochs and discusses the relation between these interpretations and events in modern life. The novelty of the present approach is in the fact that the relation between stupidity and absurdity is being discussed for the first time in philosophical and psychological literature and that the author draws our attention to the existential interpretation of social and cultural absurdities. The author offers a classification of different variants of stupidity and nonsense: historical (exemplary) stupidity, foreign (stereotypical) stupidity, ordinary (unlimited) stupidity, mystical (exclusive) stupidity, national (authentic) stupidity.

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