The factors of evolutionary process deployment

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УДК 165.12:316.3(477)

Institute of higher education of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine

The factors of evolutionary process deployment

Hrytsa U.U.

Unlike Zeus whose fury was not everlasting though striking, the god of time Chronos was distinguished by his obstinacy, categorical and uncompromising attitude, therefore he affected the ancient Greece society in the most terrifying, almost hypnotic way. His judgement resembled the natural adversity - the only difference was: the savagery of nature was mainly unexpected and unpredictable, but the deeds of Chronos were renowned in advance. Since the time predetermined everything then as well as nowadays, the desire to comprehend its essence and the logic of actions occurred quite naturally. This household, empiric, existential necessity originated the spontaneous philosophy of history [1, p. 86-87].

In time the dinamics of cultural changes which essentially distinguished the eras accelerated. For instance, the Stone Age (Oldowan) lasted for 1,5 - 2 million years; the next - Acheulean - no longer than 600 000 years; Mousterian or Middle Paleolithic, - nearly 60 000 years; eventually, Upper Paleolithic - only 15 000 - 30 000 years. Mesolithic or the Middle Stone Age covered about 4 000 - 6 000 years. The Neolithic Era is characterized by the notable and distinctly marked uneven evolution of people cultures in the different regions of planet. For that reason the New Stone Age and the further Copper and Bronze Ages had different chronological measures on the different territories: the Neolithic Era - from five to two thousand years, and the Copper and Bronze Ages - from four thousand to 700-800 years.

From the Early Bronze Age (the middle of the 4th millennium BC - the Middle Age) the majority of cultures were destroyed and cast down from the civilizational Olympus. From the first part of the 2d millennium BC the destructive effects were intervened almost in every European and North African culture - from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantica. The witnesses of these periods should have seen the gloomy chaos and destructions which endured 2-5 centuries.

An odd paradox is observed: the cultures grew more complicated, improved their structures and adjusted them to the environment, but simultaneously they inevitably became more unstable, more variable. Initially the main determinative role belonged to the natural conditions. Their crucial effect in the early periods of people history is of no doubt: the cycles of abrupt warm and cold spells, freezing and melting glaciers caused the essential changes among the flora and fauna and the essential correction of the mankind historical destiny.

Still, it is difficult to justify with the natural grounds the acceleration of further evolution pace when more improved cultures developed. Moreover, the several previous millenniums have not seen the abrupt climate changes. We may logically presume that the structure of rather primitive cultures was distinguished by some peculiarities which made them more stable, however, during the evolutional process of the social organisms they accumulated some properties which lessened their value.

The genealogy of every culture possesses some basic, invariable features. Mostly, seven main constituents are defined: 1) material production; 2) social conscious; 3) social psychology; 4) functional differentiation; 5) social organizations; 6) informational-communicative constituent; 7) normative regulations. The mentioned factors are integral, imperative conditions of the culture existence, since any culture cannot exist even without one of them [3, p. 52-53].

In the 4th-3d century BC Mencius stated in his book: if everybody did himself everything which a hundred craftsmen could do for the mankind and moreover, used the articles of his own handicraft, the people would never know a day of rest. This is an extremely pointed political- economic remark and the greatness of its conceptual frame was proved by the economy development of mankind. In particular, since have been engaged in agricultural and cattle-breeding activities the society obtained the regular additional product which led to the higher level of social differentiation, and as soon as a social leadership grew more professional and distinct, the manufacturing became more intensive and effective.

Wherever the level of biological warm and food demand is essentially exceeded history shows the phenomenon of symbolical self-expression which became the indisputable priority subjecting the other spheres of social life for many cultures and societies. The vivid example was given by Herodotus: the road to the tomb of Cheops and the pyramid itself were built by 100 000 people for 30 years. Due to the immense treasury expenses Egypt faced the unprecedented economic crisis. It came to the point that the pharaoh made his own daughter to trade with her body. But in spite of any force majeure the schedule of the pyramid construction remained unchanged.

Virtually not being gnoseological, but ethical doctrine stoicism had the essential potential to become a living mystical practice. Albert Schweitzer observed in that regard that the ethic mystic humbly puts into question how the world spirit can penetrate onto the human one and realize itself a part of it. The ethic based mysticism suggests to a human simple and reliable world-view which can provide with humanistic ideals and profound spirituality [2, p. 38].

The distinct factors of evolutionary process may be considered on the example of Spanish history. The end of 15th century was marked by the formation of the Spanish Kingdom out of Castile and Kingdom of Aragon. In the year of America's discovery Spanish dislodged the Moor from Granada which put an end to the Muslims banishment from the Iberian Peninsula. The royal power deprived the noble feudal lords of many privileges, in fact, they were dismissed from the government of the country, army and navy, which were subjected to the royal officials. The Cortes summons became more and more seldom. Thus, the Spanish absolutism arose.

The king obtained the right to appoint the clergy including inquisitors. The inquisition began with the Jews persecution who formally became Christians, but proceeded to carry out the Judaic rites. The hundreds thousands of Jews who refused to christen were exiled from the country in the year of America's discovery. The following victims of inquisition were Moors (Moriscos), later all the foreigners and eventually the rest of citizens.

The Spanish absolutism was invigorated in the first part of 15th century by the king Carl I who became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire under the name of Carl V. The Spanish navy together with the Venetians gained a victory over the Turkish in the great marine Battle of Lepanto, that fact gave the Spanish historians grounds to declare: Spain saved Europe from the Turkish invasion. The transoceanic colonies of Carl V and his possessions in Europe were significant enough “to keep the sun above the empire”. Yet it was not enough for the emperor: he was captivated with the idea of the worldwide Catholic empire and, therefore, waged the endless wars with the Protestants.

The aspiration for worldwide hegemony was natural to the successors of Carl V turning into not only dynastic, but national custom which much outlasted the actual might of Spain. Spanish absolutism reached its climax under the reigning of the Carl V's son Philip II. The possessions of that monarch in Europe alone considerably exceeded the population of England and France together. Spain was the richest state in the world and its army and navy - the ones of the most strength. The transoceanic colonies were extended to the greatest possible and gave the 80% of the world gold and silver output.

However, the religious intolerance acquired the psychopathic character, auto-da-fe became the favourite folks' diversion, a sort of national holyday. Even clerical cloth could not prevent from the punishment: the blame in heresy was put on the abbots, bishops and on the Primate himself (the supreme hierarch of the Spanish church) who was imprisoned for 17 years on the heresy charge. The children bore the punishment of their parents. The inquisition gained a censorship over all the publications and the owners of the prohibited books were put to death. The terror of inquisition petrified any free thought. Having banned the foreign journeys the king strove for Spain's isolation from the rest of the world “infected with the heresy”.

Absolutism which under the Carl V's reigning manifested cosmopolitan features gained the national colouring and formed the functional symbiosis together with Catholicism. The peple supported everything to preserve the religious purity. Tending to meet the social demands authorities endeavored to assimilate Moriscos (in particular, they were expected to reject their native language and to learn Spanish within three years). As a respond they rose in rebellion, but were suppressed, banished from the native land and settled in Castile. So far as they were the artful craftsmen, their banishment caused the desolation of vast territories and essentially affected the economy. Yet the king remained as firm as ever, he reiterated all the time: “I prefer to reign in the desert, rather than in the country inhabited by heretics”.

Nevertheless, neither rich colonies, nor the flaming faith fulfilled the Spanish dream of the worldwide reigning. The state was more and more weakened by the endless wars with the Protestants and defeats grew more and more frequent, the most painful of them - the destruction of the enormous navy forces called “Unconquerable Armada ” sent to vanquish the English. The 80 years struggle with the Netherlands which rose against the Spanish reign proved to be in vain as well. They didn't manage to conquer neither the world, nor the Protestants. The empire collapsed. historical evolution genealogy absolutism

The pendulum of Spanish history inexorably turned backwards. The consequences of despotic reign were the economy wane, intelligence petrification and cultural decline. In 200 years after the Moors were dislodged from the country Spain actually didn't only lost its colonies, but turned into the marginal state dependent on France. It was significant that the favourite engagement of the last Spanish king from the House of Habsburg - an illiterate, mentally and physical deficient person - was the game of spillikins.

Only in the second part of the 20th century the reform of 1959 gave rise to the new economic prosperity: in 19631972 the rate of the Spanish gross domestic product was increasing in 11% annually. The Frankists had to reject the autarchy policy in economy, the nationalistic opposition of the country to the rest of the world and many others economical restrictions and ideological doctrines. The fathers of the “Spanish miracle” were the technocratic ministers of the Catholic organization “Opus Dei”, who preached the modern transformation of Catholicism.To comprehend the general logic, the rules of a nation's evolution, it is necessary to look outside its own history and to compare not the course of events of one nation in different times, but the historic patterns of behavior of different nations in the analogues conditions. As Chaadaev wrote, the whole Russian history is due those vast spaces left to Russians by the ancestors.

Russia inherited from the Muscovy all the historically formed elements of centralized bureaucratic-communal state. Up to the end of the 19th century 90% of peasants were the members of communes, which existed within the countryside. The mental attribute of a commune can much outlast the very commune which shaped it. It is no coincidence that it becomes apparent even in the modern Russia. Besides, there is one more fact which could not be denied: the Russian history never lacked the two other elements - the despotic authority and the officials.

In Asia the states were formed in the regions delimited with considerable distances, high mountains, deserts and prairies where dominated the warlike nomadic tribes. The cultural contrasts between the states and the nomadic tribes were so striking that their relations couldn't be the grounds for the synthesis of the new civilizations.

On the contrary, in the ancient Greece which comprehended and adopted the achievements of Egyptian and the other Mediterranean cultures the civilization concentrated on the small plots of land demanding the initiative and innovations from a farmer, it was necessary to make the independent decisions meanwhile excluding the possibility of large collectives' activities which are based on the same routine operations as it was common for the most regions of Asia. Therefore, the life of the community here was initially different: it enabled the individual to be freer, inciting him to comprehend, adopt and to apply creativity.

It is no coincidence that the first states on the ancient Greece territories deferred much from the Eastern despotic states. After a while “the Greek wonder” arose - the golden age of philosophy, science, art and literature which founded the cultural bases of European civilization. In 500 BC there was eventually formed the democratic city-state in Athens which positively and radically opposed to the Eastern despotic states. Thus, the Western part of mankind finally distinguish itself from the Eastern one. The consequences of that distinction influenced on the every sphere of social life. They were quite objective and natural, reflecting the historically cultivated peculiarities.

The term “civilization” is used by the social scientists in the broad range of meanings. The most frequently they mean under that term the historical stage of the mankind evolution following the barbarism, which is characterized by the forming of social classes, of the state, by urbanization and by the arising of written language. Being interpreted that way the term “civilization” serve to oppose the social life organization to the family one. Virtually, the antithesis to barbarism is meant.

The civilization is also interpreted as an essential feature, a description of transcultural integrity of mankind, the common mankind unity. The man point in that sense is “the people civilization”, “the general civilizational lifestyle” etc.

Frequently civilization is referred as a synonym for the material culture. In the other terms that is what makes our existence cosy, comfortable and convenient. Due to such point of view the attributes of civilization are accommodation, service, transport and conjunction, household equipment etc.

Sometimes civilization is referred as a characteristic of the historical process. This notion serves as a criterion of comparative evaluation of the different historical stages in relation with the growth of social wealth. In that case social development is characterized by the level of its civilization.

I.Kant initiated the principal distinction between civilization and culture and O.Spengler absolutized such a distinction defining civilization as a stage of cultural development. On the basis of analysis of the considerable factual materials he concluded that there were a great number of the original and equivalent as for the significance cultures in the mankind history, each of them completes the undergone life cycle with such civilizational stage as the ageing, decline, exhaustion of life resources, loss of motivation and intention of further development.

Although there are a great number of different the opinions, some invariable common points still may be observed. That is the recognition of the civilization as a form which originates the whole diversity of social relations and institutions within a certain formation based on some quality. If we recognize civilization as a result of social classes and state arising, then it is objectively connected with the state and the religious institutions influence on social life as a whole and on the culture in particular.

References

1. Karsavin L.P. Historical Philosophy. - SPb.: AO Complect, 1993. - 350 p.

2. Rakitov A.I. Historical Comprehension and Historical Apprehension // Rakitov A.I. Historical Apprehension: Systematic Gnoseological Approach. - M. : Politizdat. - 1982. - P. 27-64.

3. Frantsyzova N.P. History and Historical Comprehension in the Karl Jaspers' Existentialism // Social Theories and the Present Time. - 1993. - N.9. - P. 50-64.

Abstract

The historical evolution of nations and peoples is a complex and multi-aspect process. Some factors have transhistorical value, while others have a significant impact only in specific historical limits. To create a hierarchy of importance for these factors appears to be the important research goal of modern philosophy of history.

Історичне еволюціонування країн і народів -- складний і поліаспектний процес. Деякі фактори мають трансісторичне значення, а інші справляють істотний вплив лише в конкретно-історичних межах. Ієрархізація істотності цих чинників постає важливим дослідницьким завданням сучасної філософії історії.