The civilizational approach

The civilizational approach to the study of history isone of the methods used by scientific minds to clarify important issues of the course of events in the historical process of different eras. A huge influence on this method was provided by the works of such historians as A. Toynbee, K. Jaspers, N.Ya. Danilevsky and many others.

The study of the course of historical events of the worldscale makes it possible to trace and understand how diverse this process is, and how many options for the formation of society, differing not only in virtues but also in shortcomings.

The civilizational approach exists along withformational, the main difference is that the basis of his study is socio-economic relations, independent of the will of man. They exist because of objective circumstances. Civilized at the head of all ongoing processes puts a person, taking into account his norms of conduct, aesthetic and ethical views.

The concept of "civilization" appears even in the ancienttimes, but in the XVIII century it was thoroughly part of the historical vocabulary. It is from this time that it is actively used by representatives of science. In addition, for this period, the emergence of various theories of civilizations. It should be noted that the concept of "civilization" in ancient times was contrasted with another Latin concept, meaning "savagery". Already in those distant times, people saw the difference between a barbaric and civilized society and life in general.

Returning to theories, the two main ones arestadial and local. In accordance with the first, civilization is a process of development in certain stages. The initial it can be considered the moment of disintegration of the primitive society, as a result of which mankind has passed into the stage of the civilized world. Such civilizations can be attributed to the primary, because they did not have the opportunity to use the civilizational traditions that emerged at a later time. They created them on their own, giving fruits to subsequent formations. The local-civilizational approach studies the historical aspects of the emergence of a community in a certain territory, for which its own socio-economic, cultural, and political characteristics are characteristic. Civilizations of a local character can exist both within the framework of a certain state, and when several states are united.

Civilization of a local species is a system,which consists of various interrelated components: political structure, economic situation, geographical location, religion and many others. All these components perfectly reflect the uniqueness of a particular civilization.

The civilizational approach, as well as thestage, helps to look at the historical course of events from different angles. The stadial approach is characterized by an examination of the development of mankind in accordance with common and general laws. The theory of local civilization is based on the individuality and diversity of historical processes. Therefore it is very difficult to say which theory is better or worse. They both have the right to exist, since they are complementary to each other, having their own advantages. Historians have repeatedly attempted to combine both methods of study, but so far this has not happened, and no common system has been developed that would unify both theories.

In summary, it should be noted thatthe civilizational approach helps to understand the basic laws and directions of the formation and formation of the world civilization, the uniqueness of individual civilizations, and also makes it possible to compare the development processes of various civilizations.

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