E-LOGOS 2014, 21(1):1-18 | DOI: 10.18267/j.e-logos.376

Oscillations Between Barbarism and Civilization

Anna Makolkin
University of Toronto, Canada

Keywords: civilization, barbarism, moral compass, sexual communism, difference, cultural gulf, cycles, atavism, savages, cultural parents

Human advancement has never been a steady progression from barbarism to civilization, there usually were ups and downs of advancement of Being, values, skills and customs invented and re-invented, abandoned, forgotten and re-invented again and again throughout millennia. Having stepped into the 21st century, when Reason has basically abandoned many of us and encountering barbarism again, it may be useful to re-examine the overall human passage from the stage of savagery to the more advanced stages of existence, trying to obtain the approximate pattern of changes and re-define the meaning of civilization and barbarism. This re-examination involves a second look at the phenomenon of cyclicity and shift, possessing a quasi- biological rhythm. This paper offers a mini transhistoric and cross-cultural analysis of the civilizational shifts.

Prepublished online: December 16, 2014; Published: June 1, 2014  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Makolkin, A. (2014). Oscillations Between Barbarism and Civilization. E-LOGOS, 21(1), 1-18. doi: 10.18267/j.e-logos.376
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Aristotle. Politics in Complete Work, ed by Jonathan Barnes, 2 vols. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1985.
    2. Bell, Clive. Civilization. London: Chatter & Windur, 1928.
    3. Confucius. The Analects. Tr. By Ezra Pound, ed by William Hawley. New York: New Direction, 1969.
    4. Derrida, Jacques. The Other Heading. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1992.
    5. Darwin, Charles. Journal of Researches. London: Murray, 1845.
    6. Dostoevsky, Fedor. Pis'ma/ Correspondence. Moscow: Gospoliizdat, 1955.
    7. Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince and Other Discourses. Int. By Max Lerner. New York: The Modern Library, 1950.
    8. Makolkin, Anna. Paradoxes of the 20th Century and Existential Crusades. Toronto: Anik Press, 2014.
    9. Makolkin, Anna. "Aristotle's Idea of Civilized Man and Civilized Society" in Biocosmology and Neo-Aristotelism, Fall, 2014.
    10. Makolkin, Anna. Italian Librettist Re-writing History. Toronto: Anik Press, 2012.
    11. Makolkin, Anna. Wisdom and Happiness with or without God. Toronto: Anik Press, 2009.
    12. Makolkin, Anna. The Genealogy of Our Present Moral Disarray. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2000.
    13. Mill, John Stewart. "Civilization" in Essays on Politics & Society, vol 18. Toronto: UofT Press, 1977.
    14. Stearns, Peter. Western Civilization in World History. New York: Routledge, 2003.
    15. Tolstoy, Leo. What's to be Done? Berlin: n.p. 1948.
    16. Toynbee, Arnold. Civilization on Trial. New York: Oxford University Press, 1948.
    17. Toynbee, Arnold. A Study of History. London: Oxford University Press, 1934 vol.1.
    18. Valery, Paul. History and Politics. Tr. By Denise Folliot and Jackson Mathews. London: Routledge Kegan Paul, 1963.
    19. Westermark, Edward. History of Human Marriage. Macmillan, 1891.
    20. Wooley, Leonard. Ur of the Chaldees. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1954.

    Return to the content