Philosopher Marco Senaldi argues COVID-19 is 'cunning' and demands a new philosophical paradigm

In an article published on Artribune Magazine #54, philosopher and art theorist Marco Senaldi argues that the COVID-19 virus is not merely malicious but 'scaltro' (cunning), forcing a rethinking of categories beyond health, economy, and environment into the philosophical realm. Senaldi, who holds a PhD and has taught at Università di Milano Bicocca, IULM, FMAV, and Accademia di Brera, claims the virus is 'competent' in that it challenges historical-temporal categories, unlike past epidemics like the Black Death or AIDS which fit their eras. He compares COVID-19 to the Pacific Trash Vortex, an insidious plastic conglomerate invisible from satellites. The virus also compels a redefinition of space, moving beyond globalization to 'connectography' as described by Parag Khanna in his 2016 book, but notes that even this is insufficient without analyzing the dialectic between virtual and real space. Ultimately, Senaldi poses a fundamental philosophical question: whether the 'third level' of mind proposed by thinkers from Plato to Hegel—dianoia, Geist, śūnyatā, amor Dei—has been overlooked, and whether art can embody this ultra-rational knowledge or will remain tied to 20th-century entrepreneurship and cultural capitalism. The article was published during the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted international fairs, closed museums and galleries, and forced a reevaluation of art's role.