However, in many cases, values are formed not only in an introverted sense, but also in an extroverted sense, and I think much of this can be explained by the mechanism of challenge and response. These two viewpoints are necessary as a minimum as a large frame. Rather than thinking about how these will be combined as a theory, the purpose of the first basic stage is to first see what can be seen by taking each perspective and to concretely accept what is seen. That is to say.
Changes in the life phenomena of civilizations in closed civilizations
From here, we begin to observe the introverted life phenomena of civilization in the style of Spengler . In doing so , it is first necessary to look for historical examples as appropriate materials . One such example is the ` ` change in mentality during the Edo period under national isolation . ''
The history of Japan from the beginning of national isolation (1636) to the arrival of the black ships (1864) can be said to be very close to the ideal of a closed civilization . For this reason , I would like to use this model to observe the process of change in biological phenomena, as it is a suitable material for examining the introvert model .
However, as a first step , it is necessary to present a simplified model of changes in social order and mentality , and to explain the concept behind it .
Let me now write about Spengler's four periods of rise and fall of social organisms. Spengler divided the rise and fall of social order into four eras*1 : childhood, youth , middle age , and old age . This classification method was criticized by Toynbee and others for viewing civilization as an organism .*2 However, on the other hand, Toynbee held the idea that child civilizations are germinated from parent civilizations *3. If so, is it possible that these four periods could arise depending on the degree of overlap between the parent civilization and the child civilization? These four periods can also exist as basic models, and the theme from here is to take a closer look at their characteristics.
*1 The rise and fall of social order in four eras
Regarding the idea of four eras of rise and fall of social order, some researchers of Spengler have criticized that Spengler is only understood formally. ``Only what is extremely external can be understood.'' This opinion is probably influenced by Toynbee and others' claims that society is not an organism. There are various types of civilizations, and some are influenced by multiple outside civilizations, but even among these, it can be said that the simplest form of civilization has followed a relatively organic form.
*2 Toynbee looked critically at this method of classification.
Society is not a living organism in any sense. He says that society is nothing more than a common basis for the actions of individual human beings who are living organisms. He held that it cannot be demonstrated that the social order passes through successive periods of life in the same way as humans do. However, Toynbee also says that civilization has a parent-child relationship in a different sense than society . If there is a parent-child relationship, it is possible that the timing can be divided depending on the relationship. It would be even more meaningful to look at each period in detail.
*3 Toynbee's idea of the embryo of civilization
A distinctive feature of Toynbee's theory of civilization was that each civilization did not complete its life phenomenon independently, but that it conceived child civilizations along the way. They are the parent civilization and the child civilization. He also believed that there was an encounter between different civilizations before the birth of civilization. If there is an embryo, this will likely be the cause of overlapping generations between civilizations. Civilization and social order are not necessarily the same thing. Civilization can be said to be a series of several social orders linked together over time. But there may be cases where they match. This may be the case with Japan during the period of national isolation. In such cases, it is expected that there will be roughly four eras in the rise and fall of the social order. I believe that such a phenomenon can occur in the relationship between the old social order (played by preceding social forces) and the new social order (played by new social forces).
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