Visual Presentation of Social Matters

Abstract

“Visual Presentation of Social Matters” is a 1936 Polanyi lecture, delivered to the Association for Education in Citizenship, which lies in the background of Polanyi’s 1940 film Unemployment and Money. Polanyi argues that the complex modern market system is misunderstood by ordinary citizens who subscribe to economic fallacies; this misunderstanding has contributed to violence and turmoil in the twentieth century. Polanyi proposes a program to discover a dynamic visual symbolism (“moving picture writing”) that he believes can clearly represent modern economic life, releasing ordinary people from economic fallacies and exasperation and creating “economic consciousness.” This economic enlightenment is part of Polanyi’s effort to rehabilitate liberalism. He envisions an economic order in which there is freedom and “complete co-ordination” which he suggests already exists in the domain of scientific research. Heroism and Happiness The dictators of Germany and Italy have repudiated the utilitarian idea and following the lead of some philosophers of the past century have proclaimed that heroism stands above utility. They despise base comfort and aspire to noble tragedy. There might be truth in this philosophy, yet it is as inappropriate in a statesman as it would be in a doctor. Both have to do their best to improve the condition of those entrusted to their care and not to cause their destruction for the sake of making them fulfill a nobler fate. But the statesman might well reject the utilitarian doctrine on other grounds; not because it wants to make people happy but because it gravely misjudges the conditions of human contentment. This doctrine assumes that people are content if they are given the means to satisfy their needs. Unfortunately, this is not so. Even more than they need goods, people want for their contentment a full understanding of their condition. None can find comfort in a position which he fails to comprehend, and protracted perplexity leads to mental derangement.