{"id":73357,"date":"2026-07-03T11:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T09:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=73357"},"modified":"2026-07-03T11:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T09:05:13","slug":"edgar-morin-thinker-of-complexity-friend-of-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/edgar-morin-thinker-of-complexity-friend-of-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"Edgar Morin: Thinker of Complexity, Friend of Humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Edgar Morin lived a very long life\u2014104 years\u2014and made a tremendous contribution to all humanity. Born Edgar Nahoum in Paris, 1921, he died there on May 29 as Edgar Morin. Paris was where he belonged intellectually, but the whole world was the arena of his intellectual and human endeavors, for he was able to think and to think complexly.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

As no one before him, Morin described the rapid growth of human knowledge, the increasingly life-estranging specialization of the sciences, the fragmentation of life\u2014and new possibilities for humanity. He ultimately summarized his observations with the concept of \u201ccomplexity.\u201d His articulation changed the conditions of human existence. For now, a single concept captured the form of existence created by human beings themselves, in which an articulating, cognitive, and rational consciousness has become the determining factor of life, even though it also knows its own inability to fully comprehend that very life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The knowledge of complexity as a modern form of existence appears to be the first step toward comprehending the living and the human\u2014no one can turn back from this idea without losing touch with reality, no matter how great the longing for a pre-complex state. The discovery of this \u201chomo complexus\u201d is Morin\u2019s contribution to the consciousness of our own humanity, one that can hardly be overestimated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the Pseudonym \u201cMorin\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Morin\u2019s family was part of the Sephardic Jewish diaspora from Thessaloniki. The early death of his mother, Luna Beressi, when he was nine years old must have been a defining moment. He often refers to this wound in his later writings. His sensitive thinking on loss, memory, and vulnerability may have its origin here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His Jewish identity was rooted less in religious or cultural practice than in historical and ethical experience. It was only natural that at the age of 21 during the German occupation of France, he joined the Resistance under the pseudonym \u201cMorin.\u201d He was especially active in organizational, political, and journalistic tasks within the underground movement. His name, his stance, and his engagement remained with him until his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fight against nationalism, anti-Semitism, and ideological exclusion shaped his long life. In 1941, he joined the French Communist Party but was expelled in 1951 after criticizing Stalinism and Soviet policies. This experience deepened his distrust of close-minded worldviews and his search for a way of thinking that could endure contradictions and use them to open up new horizons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director of Interdisciplinary Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After studying history, geography, philosophy, sociology, and law, he began working in 1950 at the CNRS, France\u2019s largest state-funded research organization [French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique<\/em>)]. In 1969 he became a research director and led numerous interdisciplinary projects. His six-volume magnum opus, La M\u00e9thode<\/em> [Method],<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> established and tested the theory of complexity. While working with changing teams, he combines biology, epistemology, and anthropology with sociology, ethics, history, and media theory, always in relation to current issues. Using \u201ccomplex thinking,\u201d he examines mass culture, youth movements, urbanization, film, and politics to reveal the interconnections between seemingly separate fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morin has become the epitome of academically relevant, interdisciplinary, and human-centered research that engages with civil society practices. In opposition to the fragmentation of lived reality and the disintegration of disciplines, he emphasizes the reciprocal interdependence of opposites: order and chaos, individual and society, nature and culture. Knowledge and education are to evolve by way of a \u201ccomplex consciousness\u201d into the political and social agents of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reform of Education Systems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 1997 he was invited by UNESCO to develop perspectives on education for the 21st century. Drawing on a broad-based international collaboration, he presented his report in 1999.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> He articulates a vision for education that does not merely impart knowledge but promotes independent thinking, responsibility, and consciousness of global and civilizational interconnections. The report emphasizes the need for transdisciplinary curricula that provide young people with the tools to tackle complex, global problems. The text became a reference document for UNESCO\u2019s education policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In light of the possibilities and challenges posed by artificial intelligence today, the text reads everywhere as nearly prophetic. Throughout, Morin focuses on what it means to be human\u2014indeed, even more on human destiny:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEducation should show and illustrate the multiple facets of human Fate: fate of the human species, individual fate, social fate, historical fate, all these fates mixed together and inseparable. One of the essential vocations of the education of the future will be the investigation and study of human complexity. It will lead to knowledge [prise de connaissance<\/em>] that will give awareness [prise de conscience<\/em>] of the common condition of all human beings; the very rich and necessary diversity of individuals, peoples, cultures; and our rootedness as citizens of the Earth.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u201d<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tirelessly Searching<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

He responded to criticism with understanding: his concepts, he acknowledges, are too vague and broad to meet precise empirical standards. Yet it is precisely this breadth that bridges the gap between natural science and the humanities (the human or spiritual sciences), as well as between research and public discourse. In this way, he inspires researchers, educators, activists, and thinkers around the world by examining complex problems at the intersection of epistemology, ethics, and political and human practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right up until his final days, Mortin continued to comment on current issues. His stance on Israel, in particular, demonstrates how nuanced his approach to his Jewish identity was. He took a firm stand against antisemitism while at the same time vehemently criticizing Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. He refused to equate Jewish identity with loyalty to the state and emphasized that the memory of oppression entails a duty to empathize with others who are suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was something searching about his personal demeanor. He spoke of uncertainties that needed to be thought through in consort with others. I found his completely natural politeness especially surprising and impressive. He leaves behind a style of life and thinking that instills a confidence that the world cannot be understood through simplification and that a future for humanity is always possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Translation <\/strong>Joshua Kelberman
Image <\/strong>Edgar Morin at \u201cFronteiras do Pensamento\u201d in S\u00e3o Paulo (Brazil), 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edgar Morin lived a very long life\u2014104 years\u2014and made a tremendous contribution to all humanity. Born Edgar Nahoum in Paris, 1921, he died there on May 29 as Edgar Morin. Paris was where he belonged intellectually, but the whole world was the arena of his intellectual and human endeavors, for he was able to think and to think complexly. As no one before him, Morin described the rapid growth of human knowledge, the increasingly life-estranging specialization of the sciences, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9170,"featured_media":72999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9115,8820,8845],"tags":[11813,11818,8824],"class_list":["post-73357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consciousness","category-news","category-social","tag-ausgabe-24-2026-en","tag-english-issue-29-30-2026","tag-spotlights"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73357"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73385,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73357\/revisions\/73385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}