Byung-Chul Han 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities

Your Majesties,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Most Honourable Authorities,
Distinguished Laureates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is both a great honour and a great pleasure for me to receive such a high distinction in this traditional city of Oviedo.

In Plato’s famous dialogue Apology, when Socrates defends himself after being sentenced to death, he explains what the mission of the philosopher is. The role of the philosopher would be to stir up the Athenians and awaken them, to criticize, irritate and recriminate them, just as a horsefly stings and goads a noble horse whose very bulk makes it sluggish, and thus spurs and rouses it. Socrates compares that horse to Athens.

I am a philosopher. As such, I have internalized this Socratic definition of philosophy. My socially critical writings have also caused irritation, sowing nervousness and insecurity, but at the same time they have aroused many people. With my essay Burnout Society, I tried to do justice to the philosopher’s role, admonishing society and arousing its awareness to awaken it. The thesis I was proposing, namely that the unlimited individual freedom that neoliberalism proposes to us is nothing more than an illusion, is indeed irritating. Although today we believe we are freer than ever, we actually live in a despotic neoliberal regime that exploits freedom. We no longer live in a disciplinary society, where everything is regulated by prohibitions and mandates, but in a performance society, which is supposedly free and where what presumably counts are abilities. However, the sense of freedom generated by these unlimited capabilities is only temporary and soon turns into oppression, which is, in fact, more coercive than the imperative of duty. You imagine yourself to be free, but in fact you voluntarily and enthusiastically exploit yourself until you break down. That breakdown is called burnout. We are like that slave who snatches the whip from his master and whips himself, believing that this frees him. That is simply an illusion of freedom. Self-exploitation is much more effective than exploitation by others, because it creates that deceptive sense of freedom.

I have also pointed out the risks of digitalization on several occasions. It is not that I am against smartphones or digitalization. Neither am I a cultural pessimist. The smartphone can be a very useful tool. There would be no problem if we used it as a tool. What happens is that we have actually become tools of the smartphone. It is the smartphone that uses us, not the other way around. It is not the smartphone that is our product, but we ourselves are its products. Human beings often end up becoming slaves to their own creations. Social media could also have been a medium for spreading love and friendship, but what prevails there is hate, fake news and belligerence. They do not socialize us, but rather isolate us, make us aggressive and rob us of empathy. Neither am I against Artificial Intelligence. It can be very useful if used for good, humane purposes. But the risk likewise exists with AI that human beings may end up becoming slaves to their own creation. AI can be used to steer, control and manipulate people. Therefore, the pressing task of politics would be to control and regulate technological development in a sovereign manner, rather than simply keeping up with it. Technology without political control, techniques without ethics, can take on a monstrous form and enslave people.

Lately, I have been thinking a great deal about the growing loss of respect in our society. Nowadays, as soon as someone has a different opinion to ours, we declare them to be an enemy. A discourse on which democracy is based is no longer possible. Alexis de Tocqueville, author of a famous book on American democracy, already knew that democracy requires more than mere formal procedures, such as elections and institutions. Democracy is based on what is known as moeurs; that is, the morals and virtues of citizens such as civic-mindedness, responsibility, trust, friendship and respect. There is no social bond stronger than respect. Without moeurs, democracy is emptied of content and reduced to a mere apparatus. Even elections degenerate into an empty ritual when these virtues are lacking. Politics is then reduced to power struggles. Parliaments provide the stage for politicians to promote themselves. And neoliberalism has already created a large number of losers. The social gap between rich and poor continues to widen. The fear of social decline is already affecting the middle classes. It is precisely these fears that drive people into the arms of autocrats and populists.

We believe that the society we live in today is freer than ever. Limitless options can be found in every sphere of life. Also in the sphere of love, thanks to dating apps. Everything is available instantly. The world resembles a gigantic warehouse where everything becomes consumable. Infinite scrolling promises unlimited information. Social media make borderless communication possible. Thanks to digitalization, we are interconnected, but we lack genuine relationships and bonds. The social sphere is eroding. We lose all empathy, all attention for the other. A frenzy of authenticity and creativity make us believe that we enjoy ever-increasing individual freedom. Yet at the same time, we vaguely feel that we are not actually free, but that rather we stagger from one addiction to another, from one dependency to another. We are haunted by a feeling of emptiness. Emptiness is the legacy of liberalism. We no longer have any values or ideals with which to fill this vacuum.

Something is not right in our society.

My writings constitute a sometimes very forceful reproach of contemporary society. My cultural criticism has irritated quite a few people, like that Socratic horsefly that stung and spurred the sluggish horse. But if there is no irritation, what happens is that the same thing occurs over and over again, and that makes the future impossible. Although it is true that I have irritated people, I have fortunately not been sentenced to death, but I have been honoured here today with this splendid award. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so very much.