Riots, fires and smoke won't stop Parisians from their morning runs

Alexandr Dugin has called it 'idiocy' in the Heideggerian sense that Parisians keep running in the morning despite the riots and the smoke. The Russian philosopher uses the Greek term 'idiotes' to refer to someone with no ties to the community.

The Russian ideologue **Alexandr Dugin** posted a message on X describing it as 'the highest degree of autism' and 'idiocy' that Parisians kept up their morning runs despite the riots, fires and smoke. The text, written in English, defines the 'idiot' as 'the individual with no ties to the community'. The quote draws on the Greek meaning of the term, which Dugin attributes to the Heideggerian reading.

## The Greek meaning of 'idiotes'

In classical Greece, 'idiotes' referred to the citizen who took no part in public affairs, not to someone lacking intelligence. Dugin revives that meaning and links it to the philosophy of **Martin Heidegger**, for whom the individual cut off from their community is deprived of meaning. The message turns an everyday scene into a judgement on contemporary society.

## Running as a symptom of disconnection

The scene described in the message is a concrete one: people heading out for a morning run while the city faces riots and fires. Dugin does not question the safety or wisdom of exercising, but rather what he reads as indifference to the collective environment. It is a political reading of an urban habit.

## A controversy over community and the individual

The message appears in the context of the riots in France, though the text offers no data on their scale or dates. Dugin's claim is a philosophical opinion, not a verified fact. The debate over the limits between personal autonomy and community cohesion remains open.