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Some Great Men’s Perspectives On Civilization
Since civilization is not a monopoly of any society, there are various views on civilization by many great men of history. Here are some of them:
”Civilizations are intelligible fields of historical study……. which have greater extension, in both space and time, than national states or city-states, or any other political communities (Arnold Toynbee 1889-1975)
“Civilization is a producing society with an instrument of expansion”. (Caroll Quigley 1910-1977)
“Civilization , let us agree then, is the culture of cities and cities we shall define as agglomerations of dwelling many of whose inhabitants are not engaged in producing food. A civilization will be a culture in which food is found” (Philip Bagby, 1958)
However, the definition of civilization we consider to be more comprehensive is that propounded
by the father of historiography and sociology , Abu Zayd Abdur-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun Al-hadramiy.(1332-1406/732AH-808AH).In his book, Al-Muqaddimah, ibn Khaldun defined civilization as “a sophistication in luxury and the mastery of crafts used to advance it in various aspects such as cooking, clothes, decoration, architecture, and all social situations. Each of these requires skills and crafts to achieve it. They are specific and corollary one to another, but vary according to the variation of the variation of the soul towards the pleasures, delights and enjoyment of luxury that are determined by the decorum. Therefore, the cycle of civilization related to monarchy is necessarily intertwined with the cycle of peasantry, since peasantry and monarchy are consubstantial with one another.“ This definition of Ibn Khaldun explains the key features of civilization, skills and crafts without which nothing would be considered to be complete civilization. Going by each of the definitions of civilization by the aforementioned men of history, we will come to realize that civilization undergoes various stages and passes over a period of time. During those stages and period its value would be examined and tested by people in order to understand the benefits it has and how it should be remade.
Since civilization is not a monopoly of any society, there are various views on civilization by many great men of history. Here are some of them:
”Civilizations are intelligible fields of historical study……. which have greater extension, in both space and time, than national states or city-states, or any other political communities (Arnold Toynbee 1889-1975)
“Civilization is a producing society with an instrument of expansion”. (Caroll Quigley 1910-1977)
“Civilization , let us agree then, is the culture of cities and cities we shall define as agglomerations of dwelling many of whose inhabitants are not engaged in producing food. A civilization will be a culture in which food is found” (Philip Bagby, 1958)
However, the definition of civilization we consider to be more comprehensive is that propounded
by the father of historiography and sociology , Abu Zayd Abdur-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun Al-hadramiy.(1332-1406/732AH-808AH).In his book, Al-Muqaddimah, ibn Khaldun defined civilization as “a sophistication in luxury and the mastery of crafts used to advance it in various aspects such as cooking, clothes, decoration, architecture, and all social situations. Each of these requires skills and crafts to achieve it. They are specific and corollary one to another, but vary according to the variation of the variation of the soul towards the pleasures, delights and enjoyment of luxury that are determined by the decorum. Therefore, the cycle of civilization related to monarchy is necessarily intertwined with the cycle of peasantry, since peasantry and monarchy are consubstantial with one another.“ This definition of Ibn Khaldun explains the key features of civilization, skills and crafts without which nothing would be considered to be complete civilization. Going by each of the definitions of civilization by the aforementioned men of history, we will come to realize that civilization undergoes various stages and passes over a period of time. During those stages and period its value would be examined and tested by people in order to understand the benefits it has and how it should be remade.
