Civilizations and time 5 (the driving force that changes history and dynamic system)

6 About the driving force that changes history

I first touched on Spengler and Toynbee because they are historical researchers who place more emphasis on the time axis (which is also a bridge to the future), and Spengler and Toynbee also have many shortcomings. I also pointed out While paying attention to such points, we will think about the driving force that will change history, but for the time being, it will have nothing to do with Spengler. Qualitatively, Spengler is still inaccessible at this point, and it seems that Spengler may deepen in relation to the theory of value. This time, I would like to think about the time axis, and later, I would like to think about the theory of value. Therefore, in considering the driving force of historical change here, if anything, the relationship with Toynbee will often come up. In a sense, I think that Toynbee's theory of history can serve as a signpost for expressing the human world as a dynamic system.

 

 

(2) Approach to motive force analysis based on time

1 When thinking about the driving force of civilizational change, I am reminded of Ranke's interesting point*1. Ranke regarded world history as a place of conflict of spiritual energy, but he said that spiritual energy could not be defined. This trend may come from Hegel. Or perhaps the great event of the French Revolution created the atmosphere of that era. This led to Marx's historical materialism, and Weber's "Ethics of Capitalism and Protestantism" and "Sociology of Religion." So to speak, from Kant to Hegel was the origin, Ranke, Marx, and Weber were also their cultural descendants, and Spengler was ahead of them. Because Ranke was a historian, unlike a philosopher, he would have seen something more individual with spiritual energy. Spengler's era also passed through such an era, and it was the era of the philosophy of "life" that occurred as a reaction to the age of physics. Thinking about values is very important, but in natural philosophy it is the same as thinking about the existence of "God", which is the last thing to think about before looking at each civilization individually. However, at this stage, let's set aside "value" for the time being and, based on the definition of "force," let's approach Newton's position, who unraveled the structure and function of the natural world.

 

However, as I thought earlier, German culturalism (a flower that bloomed because political and economic liberalism was not recognized for a long time) seems to have a big hint when thinking about "value". It was no coincidence that Weber turned to the study of Protestantism as an ethic of capitalism, and to the sociology of religion in civilizations other than European civilization. Even if it is a negative thing *2.

 

*1 Ranke's theory of spiritual energy "Great Powers"

"What we perceive in the development of world history are the forces, especially the spiritual power, the creative power which gives rise to life, and life itself, that is, the spiritual energy. This Power cannot be defined or abstracted, but we can intuitively perceive it and empathize with its existence. Enchanting, appearing to us in various forms, fighting, restraining, and overcoming each other, in the interaction and succession of these forces, in their birth and death or revival, that is, greater fulfillment and greater significance. In those resurrections which envelop the vast expanses, the secrets of world history lie hidden."

Ranke is a historian who believes in the importance of verifying historical facts and their causal relationships, and was the first historian to try to grasp the flow of world history. As the background of the development of world history, it is said that some "various powers" are taken as the driving force. Among them, mental energy is the greatest driving force, but it seems that he also thought that it was impossible to define or abstract this power. What should be remembered here is that the position of mental energy dominance in the West is indicated. An image like a dynamic system of various forces is shown. Nevertheless, it is abandoning the definition of mental energy. In the first place, is mental energy something that cannot be defined? In modern times, the digitization and accumulation of data has finally progressed, and it seems that it is becoming possible.

 

*2 Weber's Sociology of Religion, Kenichi Tominaga, "Max Weber and the Modernization of Asia," 

In Weber's sociology of religion, it was written from the perspective of why religions in civilized spheres other than Europe did not give birth to capitalism and the industrial revolution, so the expression was negative. But in modern times there is a big breakthrough in the Asian region, and this needs to be explained.

 

2. Now, if we set aside the issues of culture and value and explain the human world, not the natural world, with "power," what would be the hint? One approach would be to look at it from the perspective of economics and material civilization. France's Braudel and America's Wallerstein seem to be close to this position. In Braudel's case, he himself disclaimed that his approach was a limitation*1. Moreover, it was said that there are three time axes*2. Braudel must have had the eyesight to be worthy of the pope of history, but there was one thing he couldn't do*3. Wallerstein took over Braudel's work, and although there were moves to incorporate his methods into historical studies , they were not enough to supplement Braudel's missing parts.  The reason why this has happened is that no theory or concept that could be put into perspective or has been discovered.

 

Braudel himself did not have a Weberian view of the establishment of capitalism, and it seems that modern times are also in the midst of such a trend. The missing part of Braudel is the elegant history (as Braudel puts it) that Lucien Faivre intended to write, the thought or philosophy, the ``theory of value,'' as it were. And more than others. , but it is about the "world and economy" of various civilizations before the establishment of capitalism. Futuristic studies. Looking at it in this way, it seems that Wallerstein's theory and problem posing* are very useful in the present age, but it is undeniable that there are still some missing parts. What will fill that void? One of them is Toynbee's view.

 

Why is Toynbee qualitative? It is qualitative because there is almost no quantitative consideration, and in the secular sense it does not necessarily mean that it is popular, but its theory is easier to understand than, for example, culturalist Spengler. would be in Toynbee's theory of civilization is that civilization is first challenged by the environment and the outside, to which a creative minority appears and reacts, and many imitators appear, but eventually the creative rule deteriorates. It is said that they will become a dominant minority, which will give rise to an internal proletariat, an external proletariat, and a world empire, a world church, and a fighting group.

First, there is the pressure exerted by the environment, external civilizations and forces, and second, the ability of the creative minority. capacity as the susceptibility and comprehension of many imitators. A shift in the energy of creative faculties. Self-development capacity of the inner proletariat. The capacity for self-development of the external proletariat. The inner proletariat, the outer proletariat, or the world empire as a controlling force against environmental change, the world church, as a counteracting force against it, the fighting group. In this way, Toynbee's theory of civilization can be read as a dynamic system in a qualitative sense.

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