Asks the question--Can Civilization Be Defined? What does "advancement" mean in different cultures?

1. Can “civilization” be defined?

2.  Oxford English Dictionary: the stage of human social
development and organization that is considered most
advanced:
◦ the process by which a society or place reaches an advanced
stage of social development and organization.
 What words in the Oxford English Dictionary definition
of “Civilization” need to be defined as well?
 Look Up Other Definitions
◦ Merriam Webster
◦ Dictionary.com
◦ Urban Dictionary
◦ Wikipedia

3.  Who defines “civilized”?
 What does “advancement” involve?
 How do we measure “advancement”
◦ as compared to what?

4.  Plow
 Wheeled cart and draft
animals
 Sailing ships
 Smelting of copper and
bronze
 Solar calendar
 Writing
 Irrigation ditches
 Specialized craftsmen
 Urban centers
 Surplus of food sufficient to
feed non-agricultural
workers
Man Makes Himself, 1936

5.  Values Orientation Method:
understanding basic differences
in perspective shared within a
particular culture
 Civilization:
◦ Towns > 5,000 people
◦ Writing
◦ Monumental ceremonial
centers
◦ Kluckhorn handout
Mirror for Man, 1944

6.  Civilization is a society with
functionally interrelated sets
of social institutions:
◦ Class stratification based on
ownership & control of
production;
◦ Political and religious
hierarchies that complement
each other in the central
administration of territorially
organized states
◦ Complex division of labor with
skilled workers, soldiers and
officials existing alongside the
great mass of peasant
producers
Evolution of Urban Society, 1966

7.  List your top 10 attributes of civilization

8.  Civilization is easier to describe that it is to define
 Civilization can imply something beyond organization
◦ A particular way of thinking about the world;
◦ A reflection of that world in Art, Drama, literature and many other
cultural happenings;
 HIS 101: Investigation of the origins and changes over time
of Western Civilization (and all this implies) from pre-history
to the 17th century
◦ How has Western Civilization government changed over time?
◦ How has Western Civilization Society changes over time?
◦ What are the values of Western Civilization?
◦ How are these values reflected in Art, Drama, Literature, Religion
and Government?