Philosophy Now Forum

Seán Moran analyses amphitheatrical antics.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/134/Goading_Gladiators

“This interactive engagement with the games diverted the citizens’ attention away from current affairs. The spectacle of the arena was used to distract the populace from their loss of political freedom as the former Roman Republic descended into a dictatorship under autocratic emperors. The poet Juvenal is sometimes paraphrased as writing, “Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt” (Satire 10). This policy of panem et circenses – better translated as ‘bread and the games’ – was a cynical way for authoritarian rulers to manipulate the people.” –from Seάn Moran’s article “Goading Gladiators” in Philosophy Now issue 134

And this is what we really need to translate into the Capitalist semiology: it’s propensity towards distraction through entertainment. And it doesn’t just do it through sport. It also does it through celebrity culture as a whole. And this includes arts and entertainments: the power certain entertainers hold over us.

As I have always said: what Capitalism sells best is possibility. And what we see in popular culture sells that to us as much as any sports figure does. And it is ultimately rooted in the Metaphysics of Power and the Culture of More that results from it.