The World Philosophical Forum, Athens recognizes philosophy as an enlightening agent and boon to culture. It has called for a re-imagining of life and a redefinition of its purpose and its importance at every stage of development, condition or situation as viewed and activated through the prism of ancient Greek ideals and in classical philosophy of a well examined life, wisdom, logic, ethics, personal responsibility and obligation of everyone. It aims to expand and unify civic education all over the Earth, confront social dementia and its consequences, foster global citizenship and the formation of the Universal State of Earth, urge humanity to follow universal declarations and intensify support for a culture for peace.

The World Philosophical Forum continues to reinvigorate the concept of global citizenship, promote civil lifelong education for all and reduce ignorance and corruption as a means of transforming the population on Earth into a well-educated, enlightened and integrated body. In parallel it works to make planet Earth a more peaceful habitat by slowing down the ongoing onslaught to the environment. It believes that well promulgated efforts can add momentum to the United Nations Global Development Goals of Humanity in the 21st century, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals as well as add support the reactivation of UNESCO’s Medium-Term Strategy (2014 – 2021). It believes philosophy first and for all, can have great influence on behavior, slow down or reverse negative trends within society and help in the rejuvenation of individuals and the renewal of organizations or nations.

Dear participants of the 77th UN General Assembly, greetings from Greece

Like you, we live in a time when the unexpected can be awaited, where uncertainty and mindlessness characterize a significant portion of our current moment in history and when reason is overwhelmingly rejected. We call this social dementia! Empathy on a global scale is being sapped and adverse economic fallout from the war in Ukraine, sanctions and widespread conflict will take on unmanageable proportions in many countries precipitating more poverty and inequality. The situation we face according to António Guterres is of a world moving towards the abyss in the wrong direction but is not completely of today’s choosing. Left unmitigated, unmanaged it will result in an ungovernable future. We say to you that when our minds are clouded, as our world slides to a dead end and when we find the going rough turn back and embrace classical philosophy. In a world of vested interest to do so will take great sacrifice. When it once seemed that the international community might invest in global citizenship no country backed it and its proponents have fallen silent, discouraged. Is it a matter of not being able to fight city hall?

Our hope is that you move our world away from doomsday, towards a brighter future, in which philosophy and its classical ideas are not only celebrated annually, but also used by the international community in decision making and by every citizen daily and everywhere on the Earth. It is akin to health in all other policies where it belongs and much more important.

The World Philosophical Forum has been ignored and why not? So many others have fallen into the same basket. Although its small voice elevates the signal-to-noise ratio of a most important message that should be heard, it is still drowned out by bureaucracy and in the cacophony of competing interests in a world without philosophy infinitely capable of:

  1. Unraveling complex biological systems that prop up human consciousness by destroying incredible feedback mechanisms as a result of climate change.
  2. By a big nuclear bang exceeding the power of the big bang of birth that set of evolutionary development in process.
  3. By precipitating a technologically manipulated future of limited freewill through artificial intelligence.

Let’s cling on though to a world where the creativity of human beings in infinite and man’s talent profound. Our still unheard message is that the enormous space between these two voluminous poles can only be mediated by classical philosophy, first mind-wise followed by practical. So we ask you to hear the voice of the World Philosophical Forum!

The agony of an actress of incredible beauty, a national icon drenched by Hiroshima’s blast of nuclear light, brighter than a thousand suns reflects what we talking about. After regaining senses, her one thought was to inform the Emperor of the horror of the atomic bomb. She made it to the river, floated down it for some time and then pulled out by soldiers. Two weeks later, in Tokyo, her skin was gone, corroded; she had no hair; nothing remained of her youth and beauty. The happiness she gave to her doting audiences was no more.

We have no way of knowing whether the efforts of the World Philosophical Forum are simply ignored or whether it simply falls into the policy trap of turning a blind eye to both philosophy or the Trojan horse. What we do know is that Golgotha gets even steeper and the Stations of the Cross to reach salvation increase in number, exponentially. Human rights – for life, safety, shelter, health are consistently violated everywhere and cultural heritage is squandered. Children, health facilities, schools and scholars and civilians are deliberately attacked.

You the participants in the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA77) will be gathered together with world leaders, September 13-27, 2022 at significant cost and with pomp and circumstance propped up by the Media to debate and collaborate on a wide array of international and existential issues. The budget will be a drop in the ocean compared to money allocated to armaments which has caused Pope Francis to say we should weep for this world, which does not recognize the path to peace, weep for those who live for war and have the cynicism to deny it. But what is new? since where there is muck there’s money and sanitation suffers and where there’s blood and war there’s profit and citizens are at risk from their own government.

Since the end of WWII thousands of actions have been taken, numerous declarations written and signed by towering individuals, but the world still manufactures armaments that as they kill make enormous profit. The words from the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, 1955 in a show of wisdom emerging from knowledgeable struck a moving note with its appeal as human beings to human beings: remember your humanity, and forget the rest. It never happened!

Since the 24th of February 2022, thousands of articles, interviews, statements have been given; useful, yes; helpful, yes! To an understanding of conflict in the Ukraine? Yes! In removing mankind from the danger of destruction, no! In current day reality disappointmenet is common currency as humanity consumes its frugal resources to survive on a shortening life expectancy and growing infant and maternal mortality.

Dear Participants of the 77th UN General Assembly You have an awesome duty to remain guardians of the future and we have a solemn obligation to stand with you. Our first goal is to convince you to bring back classical philosophy! Your success will be a tremendous gift for our, present generation and all generations stretching beyond into the deep future.

As Ban Ki-moon left the UN, the Doomsday Clock according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists stood very close to midnight. When in Athens to examine the plight of migrants in search of a safe port he received a symbolic life jacket, a symbolism more pertinent than ever. It represented an SOS as pollution overwhelms the planet, poles melt, fires sweep through forests and flooding erodes the fertile Earth. He took strong views on global warming, on education, with an emphasis on civic education and embraced global citizenship and philosophy. Irina Bokova said that philosophy instills humility. Audrey Azoulay, while her successor as Secretary General of UNESCO, said philosophy is a bastion against the narrowness of views and minds, while the greater the difficulty of finding solutions to a problem, the greater the need for philosophy. With Ban Ki Moon, in the UN philosophy came as close to application as the Doomsday Clock comes close to midnight today. Even the apt words of a predecessor Dag Hammarskjold that the United Nations was created to save humanity from hell may well come true.

Today the World Philosophical Forum finds the Doomsday assessment of 100 seconds to midnight obsolete as a result of worsening developments on our planet so rapid that the existing Doomsday assessment should no longer be given annually, but monthly! As of now the World Philosophical Forum sets the alarm at 23 symbolic seconds to midnight, a time when World stops.

We know of course, how utopian this all seems, but even in utopia we have to fight to save planet earth and humanity. The big question? Is there anybody there who listens anymore? The bigger question is will there be anybody left to listen?

To the best of our knowledge, Classical philosophy which placed its seal on the cradle of civilization seems abandoned in UNESCO, has not been considered in the elaboration of the World Health Organization’s evolving committees on the origins of COVID-19 and its expertise is not present in the UN. So once again what should we expect? We can only hope for the best.