What is civilization? Features, features, development of civilization. The history of civilizations of Russian, western, eastern, modern. World Civilizations

The whole period of human existence, after it left its early stage of development and left pretty bored by then caves, can be conditionally divided into certain stages, each of which will represent a long-term community of countries and peoples united by common social, cultural and Economic features. Such a separately taken historical segment is called civilization and carries in him only one inherent features.

Civilization as a general historical progress

The teachings of the most progressive representatives of the XIX century dominated the theory of universal historical progress. At the same time, individual features of the development of individual societies, related to the characteristics of their race, habitat, climate, religious and other factors, were not taken into account. It was assumed that all of humanity is involved in a single forward movement. The history of the civilizations of some of its groups has practically faded into the background.

However, by the end of the century such historical optimism had begun to decline, and the place of doubt in the reality of universal historical progress had given way. A large number of followers of the theory appeared, and they linked the development of certain groups of people with the geographical features of their areas of residence and the degree of their adaptation to them, as well as with prevailing religious views, traditions, customs, and so on. The concept of "civilization" has acquired a more modern meaning.

Term meaning

For the first time it was introduced into use by such thinkers of the XVIII century as Voltaire, A.R. Turgot and A. Fergusson. There is a term from the Latin word "civilis", which means "civil, state". However, in that era he was given a slightly different, narrower sense than now. The whole history of mankind, which emerged from the stage of savagery and barbarism without dividing it into separate stages, was designated as Civilization.

What is civilization in the understanding of modern people, well expressed English historian and sociologist Arnold Toynbee. He compared it to a living organism capable of continuously reproducing itself and passing the path from birth to death, thus overcoming the stages of birth, growth, flowering, decay and death.

A new approach to understanding the old term

At the beginning of the 20th century, modern civilization began to be viewed as a result of the development of its individual local subjects. In the field of view of scientists, the features of their social systems, the characteristic features of people inhabiting certain regions, as well as their interaction in the context of world history have fallen.

The stage of the formation of civilization is common to all peoples without exception, but it proceeds everywhere in different ways. Acceleration or slowing of its pace depends on a large number of causes, among which the most important are wars, natural disasters, epidemics and so on. The common feature of the emergence of all civilizations, their starting point is considered to be the transition of ancient people from hunting and fishing, that is, consumption of the finished product, to its production, namely, agriculture and cattle breeding.

The subsequent stages of the development of society

The second stage, which includes the history of civilizations, is characterized by the emergence of pottery production and writing in its early and sometimes primitive forms. Both of them testify to the active progress, in which a concrete society is involved. The next stage that world civilizations go through is the formation of urban culture and, as a consequence, the further intensive development of writing. On the basis of how quickly the development of these and a number of other factors proceeded, we can conditionally identify progressive and backward peoples.

So, all of the above gives a general idea of what civilization is, what is historical progress and what are its main features. However, it should be noted that in the scientific world there is no single point of view on this issue, since every scientist brings his own personal traits into his understanding. Even in the matter of dividing civilizations into agrarian, industrial, and also guided by their geographical position and features of the economy, there are different points of view.

The Emergence of Ancient Civilizations

One controversial issue is an attempt to establish a chronology of the birth of the earliest known civilizations. It is generally believed that they were city-states of Mesopotamia, which appeared in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers about five thousand years ago. To the same historical period, the origin of the Ancient Egyptian civilization is attributed. Somewhat later, the people who inhabited India accepted the features of civilization, and about a thousand years later it appeared in China. The historical progress of the peoples who lived at that time in the Balkans gave an impetus to the emergence of ancient Greek states.

All the oldest civilizations of the world arose in the valleys of large rivers, such as the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile, the Indus, the Ganges, the Yangtze and so on. They were called "river", and in many respects their appearance was due to the need to create numerous irrigation systems in the cultivated areas. An important factor was the climatic conditions. As a rule, the first states appeared in tropical and subtropical zones.

Similarly, there was a development of civilization in the coastal areas. It also required the organization of joint actions of a large number of people, and the successes of navigation helped to establish cultural and commercial ties with other peoples and tribes. Cultural exchange started, which played such a significant role in the whole world development and does not lose its relevance to this day.

War between man and nature

The main world civilizations of antiquity developed in conditions of unceasing struggle against natural disasters and complexities caused by the terrain landscape. As history shows, people did not always come out victorious. There are examples of the deaths of entire peoples who became victims of the raging elements. Suffice it to recall the Crete-Mycenaean civilization, buried under the ashes of a volcano, and the legendary Atlantis, the reality of existence which many prominent scientists are trying to prove.

Types of civilizations

The typology of civilizations, that is, their division into species, is realized depending on what meaning is put into the very concept. Nevertheless, in the scientific world there are such terms as river, sea and mountain civilizations. They include, respectively, Ancient Egypt, Phenicia and a number of states of Pre-Columbian America. Continental civilizations also take out a separate group, which, in turn, is divided into nomadic and sedentary. These are just the main sections of the typology. In fact, each of the listed species has many more divisions.

Historical stages of development of societies

The history of civilizations shows that having arisen and having passed the period of development, often accompanied by predatory wars as a result of which, strangely enough, the management system and the structure of society are being perfected, they reach their heyday and maturity. This stage carries a certain danger in view of the fact that, as a rule, the process of rapid qualitative development gives way to the preservation of the conquered positions, which inevitably leads to stagnation.

It is not always realized by society. More often it perceives such a state as the highest point of its development. In practice, this turns into a political and economic crisis, the result of which are internal turmoil and interstate clashes. As a rule, stagnation penetrates into such areas as ideology, culture, economics and religion.

And finally, the consequence of stagnation is the destruction of civilization and its death. At this stage there is an aggravation of social and political conflicts, which against the background of the weakening of power structures has disastrous consequences. With rare exception, all former civilizations have passed this thorny path.

The exception can only be those nations and states that have disappeared from the face of the Earth because of purely external, reasons beyond their control. For example, the invasion of the Hyksos destroyed ancient Egypt, and the Spanish conquistadors put an end to the states of Mesoamerica. However, even in these cases, carrying out an in-depth analysis, it is possible to find signs of the same stagnation and disintegration at the last stages of the life of the disappeared civilizations.

Replacement of civilizations and their life cycle

Carefully looking back at the history of mankind, one can not help noticing that the destruction of civilization does not always entail the destruction of the people and their culture. Sometimes there is a process in which the decay of one civilization is the birth of another. The most striking example is the Greek civilization, which gave way to the Roman one, and the modern civilization of Europe came to replace it. This gives grounds to talk about the ability of the life cycle of civilizations to repeat and self-reproduce. This particular feature underlies the progressive development of mankind and gives hope to the irreversibility of the process.

Summing up the description of the stages of development of states and peoples, it should be noted that not every civilization cites the above periods. What is the natural course of history, for example, in the face of natural cataclysms that can change its course in an instant? It is enough to recall at least the Minoan civilization, which was in its heyday and destroyed by the Santorini volcano.

Eastern form of civilization

It is also important to take into account the fact that the features of civilization often depend on its geographical location. In addition, the national features of the people making up its population are of great importance. For example, the civilization of the East is full of unique features inherent only in it. This term covers the states located not only in Asia, but also in Africa, and in the expanses of Oceania.

Eastern civilization is heterogeneous in its structure. It can be divided into the Middle East-Muslim, Indian-South Asian and Sino-Far Eastern. Despite the individual characteristics of each of them, they contain many common features that give grounds for talking about a single eastern model of the development of society.

In this case, such common features as the unlimited power of the bureaucratic elite not only over the peasant communities under its control, but also over the representatives of the private sector are common: among them are artisans usurers and all kinds of traders. The power of the supreme ruler of the state is considered given from God and sanctified by religion. Almost every Eastern civilization has these features.

Western model of society

A completely different picture appears on the European continent and in America. Western civilization is, first of all, a product of assimilation, processing and transformation of the achievements of the former, gone into the history of cultures. In its arsenal of religious impulses, borrowed from the Jews, inherited from the Greeks, the philosophical breadth and high degree of state organization, based on Roman law.

The whole of modern Western civilization is built on the philosophy of Christianity. On this basis, beginning with the era of the Middle Ages, human spirituality was formed, poured into its highest form, called humanism. Also, the most important contribution of the West to the development of world progress is the science that changed the whole course of global history and the implementation of institutions of political freedom.

Western civilization is inherent in rationality, but, unlike the eastern form of thinking, it is characterized by a sequence on the basis of which mathematics and formal logic developed . It also became the basis for the development of the legal foundations of the state. Its main principle is the domination of individual rights over the interests of the collective and society. Throughout the course of world history there has been a confrontation between the civilizations of the eastern pattern and the western one.

The Phenomenon of Russian Civilization

When in the XIX century, in the countries populated by the Slavic peoples, the idea of their association was born on the basis of an ethnic and linguistic community, the term "Russian civilization" appeared. Especially popular among the Slavophiles. This concept focuses on the original features of Russian culture and history, emphasizes their difference from the cultures of the West and the East, puts at the forefront their national origin.

One of the theorists of Russian civilization was the well-known historian and sociologist of the XIX century N.Ya. Danilevsky. In his writings, he predicted the West, passed, in his opinion, the apogee of his development, a close sunset and dying out. Russia, in his eyes, was the bearer of progress, and it belonged to the future. Under its inauguration, all Slavic peoples had to come to a cultural and economic bloom.

Among outstanding figures of literature, Russian civilization also had its ardent supporters. Suffice it to recall F.M. Dostoevsky with his idea of the "God-bearing people" and the opposition of the Orthodox understanding of Christianity to the West, in which he saw the coming of the Antichrist. Also it is impossible not to mention L.N. Tolstoy and his idea of a peasant community, wholly based on the Russian tradition.

For many years, there has been a debate about which civilization belongs to Russia with its vivid identity. Some argue that its originality is only external, and in its depth it is a manifestation of global processes. Others, insisting on its originality, emphasize the Eastern origin and see in it the expression of the East Slavic community. Russophobes generally deny the uniqueness of Russian history.

A special place in world history

Leaving aside these discussions, we note that many prominent historians, philosophers, theologians, and religious figures of our time and past, alludes to Russian civilization a very definite place, singling it out in a special category. Among those who first stressed the uniqueness of the ways of their fatherland in world history, there were such outstanding personalities as I. Aksakov, F. Tyutchev, A. Khomyakov, I. Kireev and many others.

The position of the so-called Eurasianists deserves attention on this issue. This philosophical and political trend appeared in the twenties of the last century. In their opinion, Russian civilization is a mixture of European and Asian traits. But Russia synthesized them, turning them into something original. In it they were not reduced to a simple set of borrowings. Only in such a system of coordinates, Eurasians assert, and one can consider the historical path of our Motherland.

Historical progress and civilization

What is a particular civilization taken outside the historical context that determines its form? Proceeding from the fact that it can not be localized in time and space, it is necessary to comprehensively study, first of all, the most complete picture of the historical period of its existence. However, history is not something static, immobile and changing only at certain certain moments. She is constantly on the move. Therefore, any of the world civilizations under consideration is like a river - with the similarity of its external outlines constantly new and every moment is filled with other content. It can be deep, bear its waters for many thousands of years, or it can be reduced and disappeared without a trace.