Welcome to the search for wisdom!
I cordially invite you to
join me in a great adventure
through the consciousness of human
experience.
We are all members of humanity.
Not only do we share
the genes of our ancestors, but we also have received a legacy
of cultural development in social institutions, literature, arts,
science, and technology.
As individuals learn by reflecting on
past experiences in order to act more intelligently
n the present
and thus create a better future, so too humanity by studying our
history
can learn to evaluate the consequences of actions so that
we can live better and improve our society now and in the years
to come.
In making clear the purposes of this work I want to share with you my motives for writing it.
As a person who has dedicated his life to the good of humanity,
I am extremely concerned about the future of our civilization.
Although through my spiritual experience I believe that we are divine beings and that nothing
can harm our eternal souls, I also feel a oneness with everyone,
especially with all people living on Earth.
In our lifetimes, two thousand years after the one called Christ,
humanity is facing its greatest crisis.
At this time about seven billion souls are incarnated on Earth in human form.
In the subtlety of spiritualized consciousness we can feel the suffering of these people
as well as the past experiences and future probabilities.
The current megacrisis is an evolutionary crisis for the human species,
because we now have the capability to destroy all organic life on Earth.
This could occur gradually through environmental pollution, but much more dangerous
and immediate is the ominous threat of intentional destruction through nuclear weapons.
That we have produced so many of these genocidal devices is evidence of the complicated
nature of the human psyche and a symptom of social illness as well as an urgent warning.
In my effort to serve humanity I have been searching
to discover
what is the best contribution I can make.
For many years I have
been studying these problems which face humanity.
From what I
have learned so far, I have written
brochures and books, which
suggest likely solutions.
Also I have been arrested many times
for protesting nuclear weapons
and military intervention by using
nonviolent civil disobedience.
Thus I do not study just out of
idle curiosity or for pleasure or even to earn a living
but so
that I can become wiser at nurturing life itself.
I do not write
just to make money or to become famous and respected but in order
to
influence people's awareness in ways that will promote love,
justice, and peace.
Nevertheless I do acknowledge that these other
motives operate within me
as part of the practicality and personality
of human experience.
Recent reactionary political trends have convinced me that
deep and
comprehensive changes in awareness need to occur through
long-term education.
Obviously the problem is not just nuclear
weaponry but many long-standing tendencies,
such as nationalism,
racism, sexism, greed, selfishness, intolerance, exploitation,
hypocritical rhetoric, ignorance, complacency, militarism, paranoia,
and other prejudicial and abusive behaviors.
Nuclear weapons,
which are only the worst symptom,
are not going to disappear overnight.
To bring about justice and peace in the world we need comprehensive
and holistic strategies that can shape our cultural evolution
toward these ideals.
Everyone can help, and there are many ways
of working for the good of humanity.
Yet we all can act best through
self-knowledge of our own abilities,
awareness of our situation,
and knowledge of our society and the world.
I believe that if
we listen to our inner spiritual wisdom and learn from our outer
experiences
and the history and great ideas of the wisest who
have contributed to human civilization
that we will transform
our society into a unified world culture that cares and nurtures
the freedom, health, education, and human rights of all people
on Earth.
This work on the ethics of civilization is intended
to be a contribution to this knowledge
of the various cultures
of the world so that in the future more people
will be able to
act with more knowledge and understanding of human experience.
The goal here is not just factual knowledge but wisdom,
which
is knowledge integrated with spiritual values.
Wisdom enables
us to act for the best with respect for everyone.
For some, wisdom
may be intuitive; but for many,
we learn to be wise through careful
examination of our experience.
Thus my purpose is to stimulate
people to think about the experiences of the human race
and the
intuitive insights of the great writers, saints, reformers, artists,
and scientists.
By learning from history we can avoid repeating
the mistakes of the past,
and we can apply those methods and policies
that are successful.
This work is intended for anyone who is interested in humanity.
It is not written particularly for scholars,
although scholars
may find it stimulates their own thinking.
It is not merely a
history of ethical theories, although that is included.
Nor is
it limited to political and economic issues, but it attempts to
holistically examine
human experience from the perspective of
universal ethical principles and values.
It is intended to be interesting and entertaining as well as enlightening and educational
because interest is a motivating factor in our learning process.
Stories and anecdotes can often teach us more about responding to particular situations
than statistics or generalizations.
A prior knowledge of history or literature is not required but of course is helpful.
I will try to explain things so that the beginner will be able to understand
and the knowledgeable will be stimulated to think and gain further insights.
ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION is not merely a history of civilization
but rather an ethical
and psychological interpretation of the
history of humanity's politics, economics,
social relations, religion,
philosophy, literature, arts, science, and technology.
The purpose
is not to memorize the facts but to understand the events of history
and the cultural arts so that readers can evaluate them using
spiritual truths
such as love, justice, wisdom, health, freedom,
responsibility, etc.
The ultimate goal is to combine scientific
objectivity in attempting to determine the facts
so that subjective
spiritual awareness from within can understand
and apply the evaluations
of those events wisely.
In giving my interpretation of the meaning
and significance of the facts,
I do not expect that you, the readers,
will always agree with me.
Rather by setting an example of careful
thought,
I am hoping to stimulate you to think for yourself.
Another purpose is to universalize our consciousness
into a
global awareness of all human society.
This work is not written
from the perspective of any one religion or culture
but is an
attempt to explore the truth and beauty
found in all the major
cultures and religions of the world.
Since we are becoming a global
society, it is valuable for us to have a better understanding
of the history and cultures of other people, who now are our global
neighbors.
This broadening of awareness can help us to understand
how people in other nations
have arrived at where they are now
and why they may think and feel the way they do.
Also we can learn
many things from other cultures that we can apply in our own lives.
A further purpose is to develop greater awareness of the workings
of the human psyche.
I believe that self-knowledge is as valuable
and useful as knowledge of the world.
Thus we will be examining
psychological traits of various people in history and works
of
literature and art in order to better understand how the human
consciousness operates.
For example, the importance of the emotions
is often underestimated;
yet we all know from personal experience
how important feelings are in our daily lives.
Certainly one of
the main purposes of literature and drama is to teach us about
people,
their psychological dynamics, and social relationships.
I hope that these studies will help us to better understand ourselves
and other human beings.
These purposes, which I hope will benefit the readers,
are
also my own motivations for undertaking this work.
I too want
to learn from history and the great works of culture.
Doing this
writing gives me the opportunity to study the history and literature
of the world,
and reading this may also stimulate others to study
further in history and literature.
I hope that the readers will
be interested in the insights I am able to share
and that we all
will be wiser for our efforts.
My philosophy is spiritual and idealistic but also holistic
enough
to include empirical and pragmatic methods and practices.
Ethics and its metaphysical foundations will be discussed in the
first chapter.
For now let me just say briefly that this work
is written from the perspective
of spiritual consciousness, which
aims for the good through love and understanding.
In critically evaluating the actions of individuals and groups
the intention is not to condemn
anyone to some concept of everlasting
punishment but rather to learn from their mistakes.
Thus no one
is to be condemned as an evil person, but every action
can be
looked at to see if its consequences were beneficial or harmful.
Although some individuals may have caused much harm, some of their
actions
may have been good; and others, who did much good, may
have made some mistakes.
This leads us to the particularity of
history and the need
to discern the difference between facts,
theories, and values.
Modern science now describes the physical universe
in terms
of energy, matter, space, and time.
These are all relative to
the speed of light which is constant in this universe.
Actually
it is more accurate to refer to energy-matter and space-time,
because they are relative to each other.
The combination of these
four produces what physicists call
events of energy-matter in
space-time.
Events, then, in my view, are facts.
They are particular
and can be located in space and time
and measured by energy and
matter.
Once they have occurred, they cannot be changed.
However, the only way we know about events is to perceive them,
and modern physics
has discovered that the perception of the observer
cannot be separated from the event.
In other words, what we see
depends on how we look at it.
Also in the present moment our act
of observation may affect the event we are watching.
In physics
the famous example is that of light,
which may appear to be particles
in one experiment and waves in another.
A social example is that
media coverage alters the character of a political action.
The basic premise here is wholeness—that everything in the universe is related
to everything else in the universe; nothing can really be separated from its context.
Facts and events by themselves are real but meaningless unless
we see their relationship to other events and human consciousness.
Yet the meaning of anything is freely determined by the consciousness that is interpreting it.
Thus theories are not facts but opinions or beliefs.
These beliefs rest upon values that are subjective.
The empirical approach attempts to examine the facts and then
develops
hypotheses
and theories to describe in more general terms
the applicable meaning of those events.
The deductive approach
begins with a theory and then looks for facts to back it up,
or
takes a theory and puts it into practice.
Aristotelian logic,
for example, defines humans as featherless bipeds or as rational
animals;
these are abstract definitions.
Alfred Korzybski's general
semantics defines humans as all the particular humans
who have
ever lived, live, and will live.
Aristotle's approach is limited
by abstract concepts, while general semantics
opens the consciousness
to the particular realities of the situation.
In my previous book LIFE AS A WHOLE: Principles of Education
Based on a Spiritual Philosophy of Love I described
human
experience in abstract terms, focusing on universal principles.
ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION complements that work by applying
those
principles and values to the inductive experience of the
actual people who have lived.
Thus the premise of this ETHICS
OF CIVILIZATION is to attempt to understand humanity
by looking
at the history of the people who make up humanity.
Although we
cannot help but have values and theories, the attempt is not to
prejudge events
but to begin by examining the facts of history
and culture, and only after understanding
what those are, to interpret
their meaning and significance according to universal values.
Thus the process is to move from the specific to the abstract,
rather than the reverse.
Then the lessons and insights that we
learn may be generalized and applied
back down to the specific
choices of action in our personal lives.
Mostly my attempt is
to describe the events as accurately and concisely as possible,
letting readers draw their own conclusions.
Since over-generalizing can be a problem, I will try to be
careful in interpreting
specific events and works of culture to
limit the meaning to those particular cases,
allowing the readers
the freedom to apply the lessons themselves to other situations.
Thus with the exception of the final chapter of evaluation, I
will be presenting
the essential facts relevant to ethics as clearly
as I can according to my understanding.
Occasionally I may make
comments along the way, but most of my criticism and evaluation
will be saved for the last chapter, which will summarize the main
ethical trends
in civilization, compare them, and look for relationships
within the whole.
Then I shall be judging in order to evaluate,
but the reader is free to disagree with me.
After finishing this
introduction, readers may want to begin by reading the
Summary
and Evaluation chapter in order to see
the whole picture of the
era before going back to the first chapter.
Another premise of holism is that causality
is not simple or
linear but multi-dimensional.
In other words, events have many
causes or many factors
which together determine what happens.
Since I believe in freedom, I perceive a combination of spiritual
and material causality.
We make choices to do certain things;
but given what we and others choose to do,
the laws of nature
will determine that specific effects are produced.
Thus in analyzing
events I will attempt to delineate the important and meaningful
human choices that brought them about while often neglecting those
factors
such as physical laws which are fairly obvious and cannot
be changed.
Changes in the factors are usually significant.
For example, in relation to war it is assumed that
men will use the weapons that are available in their culture.
Thus it is important when new technologies change the character of those weapons.
In literature for centuries people wrote with pen and paper, but the invention
of printing with moveable type revolutionized the availability and quantity of books.
Many people were writing and giving speeches during the American Revolution,
but the speeches of Patrick Henry and the
pamphlets of Thomas Paine were particularly influential.
Because history is a seamless garment of many threads woven together, it is difficult
to separate the various causes; I will do my best to describe their meaning and importance
and leave it to the readers' discernment to see
how some of those factors might affect other situations.
Another philosophical premise is the unity of the human species.
Although racial characteristics can be distinguished,
just as
cultural characteristics can be differentiated, it is also true
that the gene pools
of the supposedly different races are greatly
mixed,
just as the mixing of cultures has occurred throughout
history.
However, a species is defined as a group of organisms
which are able to reproduce together;
members of different species
are not able to reproduce offspring.
On this basis I consider
that the human race is one,
which contains within its unity much
variety, both genetic and cultural.
All humans learn how to use
language to communicate with each other.
From a spiritual viewpoint
humans are the primary species for the complete incarnation of
individual souls into organisms that operate creatively in the
world by making and using tools.
Related to the premise of human unity is that of human equality,
because no soul is better than any other soul, all being equally
human.
Thus I hope to avoid as best I can any racial or even cultural
biases in exploring
all the significant cultures that have appeared
in recorded history.
There are of course obvious differences between
the male and female sexes,
but those who understand that souls
reincarnate in both sexes
realize that spiritually the sexes are
equal.
Rather than focusing on a specialized subject such as politics,
economics, philosophy, religion,
social customs, art, literature,
science, or technology, ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION
attempts
to combine them together holistically.
The organization of the
material is according to space-time.
A given period of history
is explored in each volume.
Being organized according to the geographical
patterns of cultures and by time periods,
the interrelationships
of the various fields and cultural interactions can be studied.
How has philosophy and literature influenced social and political
culture?
How have the policies of governments affected the arts
and sciences?
Many other similar questions will be explored.
The first limitation is that the author is only one person
with the limited time of a life-span.
Although one mind can better
integrate things together,
the quantity of the research is restricted.
Obviously I do not claim that this is a complete history of everything.
Since it is an attempt to gain as much wisdom as possible, the
subjects of study
are selected based primarily on that criterion
with the focus being human ethics.
Part of wisdom is to perceive an overall and well-balanced
picture of the whole.
Yet within that general comprehensiveness,
I will focus on the highlights of history, biography,
religion,
philosophy, drama, literature, art, science, and technology to
draw lessons
from the significant events which have the most to
teach us.
As mentioned before, that which is most interesting
to people
usually is something we want to learn.
Thus anecdotal
examples will be used but will not replace
a deeper and larger
view of overall patterns.
The readers will surely notice how much discussion is spent
on wars
and the activities of kings and other political leaders.
There are several reasons for this.
First, wars are the most severe
violations of justice and cause the greatest harm.
To learn how
to solve and prevent such problems,
we must first understand what
causes them.
In discussing these the emphasis will be on the causes,
ethical decisions,
and consequences rather than on the details
of military tactics.
Second, although heads of state and governmental
leaders are often no better or wiser
than the average people in
their society, the consequences of their decisions are much greater.
Third, much more knowledge is usually available
about national
leaders and events involving great conflicts.
So by studying their
lives and actions we can learn much about human behavior.
The most prevalent limit to the study of history is the evidence
available to us today.
In our contemporary period we have so much
more information
than a person could ever absorb that a careful
selection is required.
The further back in history we go the less
we know, such that we know very little about
the cultures that
were in existence more than five thousand years ago
and almost
nothing about the ones five thousand years before that.
Since
most of the past five thousand years have been patriarchal and
male-dominated,
we know much less about women because of their
subservient roles.
We know more about cultures that were able
to pass on their literature
than about those that were oral or
passed away without leaving a legacy.
Through clairvoyant reading of the akashic records in the spiritual realms of consciousness
we could obtain knowledge of what has not been passed on physically.
Although I believe that is possible and hope that in the future such histories
will be written and studied, I have not developed that ability and must in this work
depend on the literature and cultural artifacts that are available.
We need to recognize though that because of the limited evidence available,
history that depends on these materials gives a distorted picture.
Nevertheless we must accept this limitation
because we can only interpret and learn from what we know.
Ironically, I must confess that I am a rather slow reader.
However, many readers may take heart from this and realize that
what we gain
from what we read depends very much on how well we
assimilate that information.
I recommend reading carefully in
order to visualize with the imagination, feel the meaning,
and
think about how it may be true and how it fits with other knowledge.
After making every effort to understand what the author is saying,
we can decide for ourselves whether we think it is accurate or
helpful.
Although I have some familiarity with several languages (Greek,
Latin, Spanish, and French),
I will be depending mostly on works
that are in English.
Some key words from various languages will
be explained to readers
for clarification of concepts that are
unique to a culture.
Although limited by translations, whenever
possible I will be
reading and interpreting writings from the
various periods.
ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION is organized chronologically and regionally by cultures.
The geographical areas used so far are the Mideast & Africa,
South Asia, East Asia, Europe, and America.
Twenty-two volumes have been published as of 2026.
The other titles are an estimated plan.
My goal is to complete the series of 38 volumes before I die.
I hope that after my death someone else will continue the series.
Completed volumes are indicated by *.
*Volume 1. MIDEAST & AFRICA to 1700
*Volume 2. INDIA & SOUTHEAST ASIA to 1800
*Volume 3. CHINA, KOREA & JAPAN to 1800
*Volume 4. GREECE & ROME to 30 BC
*Volume 5. ROMAN EMPIRE 30 BC to 610
*Volume 6. MEDIEVAL EUROPE 610-1250
*Volume 7. MEDIEVAL EUROPE 1250-1400
*Volume 8. EUROPE & HUMANISM 1400-1517
*Volume 9. EUROPE & REFORM 1517-1588
*Volume 10. EUROPE Wars & Plays 1588-1648
*Volume 11. Latin America & Canada to 1850
*Volume 12. EUROPE & KINGS 1648-1715
*Volume 13. AMERICAN REVOLUTION to 1800
*Volume 14. EUROPE & REASON 1715-1788
*Volume 15. EUROPE & REVOLUTION 1789-1830
*Volume 16. MIDEAST & AFRICA 1700-1950
*Volume 17. UNITED STATES Democracy & Slavery 1801-1844
Volume 18. EUROPE & Evolution 1830-1875
*Volume 19. UNITED STATES & Civil War 1845-1868
*Volume 20. SOUTH ASIA 1800-1950
*Volume 21. EAST ASIA 1800-1949
*Volume 22. Latin America & Canada 1850-1935
*Volume 23. UNITED STATES & Capitalism 1869-1897
Volume 24. EUROPE & Imperialism 1876-1913
Volume 25. UNITED STATES & Progress 1897-1928
Volume 26. EUROPE & World Wars 1914-1945
Volume 27. UNITED STATES Depression & Wars 1929-1953
Volume 28. Latin America & Canada 1936-2000
Volume 29. UNITED STATES & Cold War 1953-1976
Volume 30. EUROPE & Cold War 1945-1974
Volume 31. UNITED STATES & Power 1977-2000
Volume 32. SOUTH ASIA 1950-2000
Volume 33. EAST ASIA 1949-2000
Volume 34. MIDEAST & AFRICA 1950-2000
Volume 35. EUROPE UNITING 1975-2000
Volume 36. GLOBAL CRISES 2001-2008
Volume 37. GLOBAL CRISES 2009-2016
Volume 38. GLOBAL CRISES 2017-2024
Volume 39. GLOBAL CRISES 2025-2032
Volume 40. GLOBAL SOLUTIONS 2033-2040
Briefly describing my background may help to define some of
the limits of my approach.
Although I consider myself a generalist
in the humanities, liberal arts, and social sciences,
I have specialized
in a few areas of study.
At the University of California at Berkeley
I majored in Dramatic Art as an undergraduate
and nearly completed
a Masters degree.
My study there gave me a comprehensive background
in the history of dramatic literature.
From there I went to the
University of California at Santa Barbara
and acquired an M. A.
in Religious Studies.
There I became familiar with the philosophies
and religions
of China, India, Greece, and the Near East.
At U.C.L.A.
in my native city of Los Angeles I studied the philosophy, psychology,
and history of education, becoming a Ph. D. candidate.
However,
when my dissertation on Confucius and Socrates was not accepted
because of my spiritual and holistic approach, I chose
not to
rewrite it in the way the professors demanded.
I completed my
Ph. D. in philosophy at the World University in Ojai.
I have taught more than forty different college courses in psychology, philosophy,
religious studies, literature, and world civilization.
My concern for world peace led me into the study of
history, politics, economics, and sociology.
I also am knowledgeable in the esoteric studies of astrology, tarot, spiritual psychology
and metaphysics, and I usually meditate every day.
In this work I am attempting to go a step beyond traditional histories of civilization
by bringing a spiritual perspective to the study of the ethics of civilization in order to
integrate the heritage of our world culture with the eternal spiritual wisdom
so that we can create a new age of justice and peace.
I always ask for divine guidance, but I take full responsibility for the errors which may appear.
The weakness of a generalist is that
specialists can easily pick apart the treatment of their expert area.
I am open to corrections, suggestions, and improvements.
I will not be offended but honored if, long after the death of my body,
scholars and philosophers are still revising, criticizing, and updating my work.
Sanderson Beck
Copyright © 1998-2010, 2023, 2026 by Sanderson Beck
This chapter has been published in the book Mideast & Africa to 1700.
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