The recent elimination of Philosophyfrom EducationCompulsory Secondary Education (ESO) is not a novelty with respect to the usual treatment that teachingof Humanitieshas been suffering for decades. It is not surprising that in a society dominated by technology and measurable result, knowledge such as Philosophy, which is by nature not immediately applicable, is perceived as an irrelevant extravagance. What is more serious in the current case is that such elimination is not merely an oversight or a lack of attention to its importance, but a deliberate attempt to replace it with the development of a new product: the "good citizen".

From those in power it seems to be sensed with concern and fear that the search for truth, through the Philosophy, claims for itself a sphere of human life free for reflection, outside the sphere of influence of government planning agendas. Such a fear on the part of those with a totalising conception of the state is not unfounded. First, because the great human advances in science, art, religion and, of course, Philosophy, have not arisen from elite planning, but from the free exercise of the human capacity to connect with the truth, the good and the beauty of things. Such achievements have been accomplished precisely to the extent that they have not been attempted as such. The transformative potential of Philosophyis unleashed as a free irradiation of the overabundance of truth, when reality is contemplated in a disinterested way.

Second, because from such a contemplative attitude arises the sense of "critical" in its original meaning of the ability to "discern" (in Greek, krínein) the true from the false. Power is wary of this phenomenon, and tries to take over the various spheres of the life of the spirit, devising substitutes to quench the thirst for beauty - in the form of cheap entertainment or ideologised pseudo-artistic products - or the thirst for good - in the form of "noble causes" to which one can comfortably adhere from one's couch. It is now a question of quenching the thirst for truth, supplanting Philosophywith ideology. What else can the new trainingbe in civic values than a catalogue of postulates and attitudes functional to power and consecrated as unquestionable dogma?

A docile and submissive society can leave no room for genuine philosophical reflection. For that reason, the cultivation of Philosophy, far from being an extravagant luxury, is today a task of vital importance for the survival of a truly humane society. The pressing question then is what can we do? First, self-criticism. The Philosophyexplained as a succession of contradictory opinions or as a comforting speechfor its own parishioners does not respond to the deepest vital concerns, and has well earned the perception of irrelevance it now suffers from. Second, do not victimise. Complaints and institutional declarations addressed to the authorities, besides being ineffective, open the door to minimal concessions that quickly silence the complaint. This is not the time for a subsidised, civil servant's Philosophy. Third, do not despair. Just as music would not die if the record companies died, so Philosophywill not die if it disappears from the official teaching. The Philosophyis not reduced to that, it responds to a deeper longing, inherent to the human spirit. Fourth: see this crisis as an opportunity. In a world in which technology will make productive human workincreasingly dispensable and leisure activities will be increasingly valued, the future may belong to the Humanities, unless we want to hand it over to the hands of the hollow entertainment industry. We only need to awaken philosophical vocations where they are most needed and expected.

Let's ask young people the big questions, with or without occasion. If you have children, encourage them to take the subversive approach of reading Plato. Let's philosophise by all means, at home, at work, on the networks, in streaming. Let's be gadflies. The generation of digital natives is thirsty for meaning, eager to continue the conversation with the great masters of our rich tradition. The Philosophy, freed of ballast and redirected to its true purpose, will wake up purified and revitalised.