Civilizations and value 8 ( Toynbee and Spengler 's theory of civilization )

Weber's sensibilities include an ``ideal type'' way of thinking, a way of focusing on modernization theory, and a somewhat calculus-like perspective. The convenient genre divisions and classifications of economy, politics, administration, society, and culture are the same as in my theory of civilization, but they are nothing more than a methodology for analysis and synthesis. However, if we look at this categorization of economics, politics, administration, society, and culture from a different perspective, we can also think of it as a convenient classification of ``value space'' into categories. This can also be said to be related to the methodology for analysis and synthesis.

 

However, this so-called Toynbee-like theory of value formation may have a somewhat heteronomous feel to it . In addition to this , there may also be autonomous value formation theories that the civilization itself has. It refers to values that are formed in relation to the state of energy possessed by that ethnic group . These values also change over time. Also, among the things that make up these values are religion , art, and science , and Spengler was the person who intuitively understood that at the root of these are "common biological phenomena*." .

 

 *Common Life Phenomena

What has become clear is that a political problem cannot be understood from politics itself, and that the essential features operating deep within are often only found in the field of art... and even more so, This is what concretely manifests in the form of distant scientific thought and pure philosophical thought.

 

It can be said that Spengler wrote a number of things in ``The Decline of the West'' that were strange from the point of view of each expert .*1 However, in modern terms , AI　It can be said that he was discussing the ` `common life phenomena'' that exist in all things, such as religion, art, and science, in a way that turned the so- called deep learning method  on its head. He called it morphology , and said it was the last science of European civilization .

 

*1 From the perspective of an expert, he wrote a number of strange things in ``The Decline of the West.''

Spengler's evaluations of culture, art, mathematics, and history do not necessarily evaluate each field from an expert standpoint, so it seems that his evaluations are strongly biased. This element of bias can be said to be the essence of morphological interpretation. However, checking each and every one of them may be quite difficult for non-Westerners. This is why it is not expected to be efficient to use the example presented by Spengler when explaining autonomous value formation.

 

We looked at Toynbee 's theory ( challenge and response), which can be an external factor for values, and Spengler 's theory (common lifephenomena), which can be an internal factor .

 

There will probably be many opinions as to why Toynbee and Spengler 's theory of civilization is being used now . In fact, in recent years, it has been Huntington's work ``The Clash of Civilizations'' that has continued to have a major influence on civilization theory . Although the clash of civilizations has successfully explained * the situation in the real world , it seems that it has also become a fuel for values and ideas in itself.

 

*Explain real world situations well.

The population growth of Islamic civilization and the economic development of Chinese civilization in Asia gradually brought about tension with Western civilization. In contrast, Huntington believed that close cooperation between Europe and the United States would be essential to sustaining the hegemony of Western civilization. He also predicted that by 2021, the population growth in Islamic civilization would have slowed down. On the other hand, tensions caused by Chinese civilization are still rising.

 

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