The Evolution of Civilizations: An Introduction to Historical Analysis

Perhaps one the most important, yet little known, events in human history was the denigration of Aristotelian philosophy. While this event took centuries to complete, it reached its final completion in the late 1950s early 60s. With this went the teaching of the Philosophia Perennis, the study of real truth, reason and logic as applied to wisdom. Perennial Philosophy was traditionally comprised of the seven spheres of knowledge, logic, rhetoric, math, etc. Part of the reason for The Philosophy's demise, I believe, was for centuries nobody had found a way of judging history that fit in with the system, thus protecting it from modernistic Idealism. One of many tactics opponents used to make the system obsolete was advancing the notion that history cannot be judged, it has no 'story' underneath to anchor truth: there is no truth - history is written by the winners - all truths are just cultural, etc.In this work, Carroll Quigley has successfully found and supported what I believe is a legitimate 'eighth sphere', a means of assessing history according to Aristotelian standards. This is no small feat. Had this book been written in any other point of history, Quigley would have been heralded as one of the great philosophers. But alas, he wrote this book precisely at the very moment when The Philosophy was breathing its last.If you are dismayed at the direction of modern society, take time and find the collected works of Fr. Celestine Biddle, read them, and then take in the fine wine of this book and see how society might have been had Quigley showed up sooner.

I am a professional historian and one-time student of Carroll Quigley. Rereading "The Evolution of Civilizations" after 40 years, I heard his voice speaking across time and felt once again the uncanny penetration of his analytical mind. I suppose that he was the most remarkable person I have ever met.This book makes a major contribution to the study of civilizations, previously the preserve of writers of a literary or philosophical bent. Quigley was through and through a scientist who strove to analyze the rise and fall of civilizations and develop explanations of their dynamics that went well beyond the descriptive treatments of Toynbee and others.Quigley's seven stages of the rise and fall of civilizations, his six dimensions of analysis (military, political, economic, social, religious, and intellectual), and his application of the concept of institutionalization of once-productive "instruments" of society to explaining the stages of Expansion and Conflict are superior to any competing framework of analysis I have encountered. They deserve careful scrutiny for what they can tell us about the interaction of civilizations in our globalizing world.I found especially interesting Quigley's analysis of how climate change shaped prehistorical population movements, his discussion of the philosophical struggles of classical antiquity, and his explanation of the economic factors driving European expansion and conflict.That this book has never received much attention from professional historians should not surprise us. Quigley was operating in a mode that led him to diverge from the mainstream and to upset more than a few specialists.While this book certainly contains high value for students of world history, its teachings can be applied in other fields as well. I have found the analytical techniques and the explanation of science and epistemology in this book repeatedly fruitful in my own historical, scientific, and criminal detective work.For more on Quigley, try a Google or Yahoo search under "Carroll Quigley: Theorist of Civilizations".

Read Quigley's "The Evolution of Civilizations" carefully and you'll come away with new ways of thinking about the PROCESSES of history, and of approaching historical analysis and contemporary societal problems.Well before Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" Carroll Quigley was teaching Ancient History to young students at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He was not only a brilliant researcher, analyst, writer and lecturer on history and historical processes, but also a gifted instructor, who left his students with a memorable set of frameworks, tools, stories, examples and anecdotes that many carry with them for the rest of their lives. It's this latter quality that undoubtedly led President Clinton to name Quigley as one of the three people who most influenced his thinking... though I'm afraid Bill forgot a lot. (Another Clinton favorite, the late Professor Walter Giles, also taught at the School of Foreign Service.)Even Quigley's tests were memorable. What other history prof, for example, would challenge his students as follows: "Imagine you are in the Athenian forum on a marketday morning in 450 BC. Look around you and tell me what you see.")You've gotta love an instructor that good.

This is a very well thought out and intelligently structured project that looks at society in a wholly different way. It makes a fascinating read and an entertaining one too. I loved reading this almost as much as I love eating ice cream. It's a delight to tuck into with fascinating insights and a new way of looking at history of civilisation.

Carroll Quigley gehört zu den einflussreichsten US-Historikern des 20. Jahrhunderts, Bill Clinton, der ihn Georgetown bei ihm studierte, nannte ihn einen seiner einflussreichsten Lehrer. Und tatsächlich dürfte die Theorie der Entwicklung von Hochkulturen insbesondere für die Verteidiger des US-Imperiums von großen Interesse sein, zumal Quigley einen durchaus engen Kontakt zur herrschenden Klasse unterhielt. Kurz gesagt versucht Quigley, der zunächst Biochemiker werden wollte, in diesem Buch ein wissenschaftliches Modell der Entstehung und des Untergangs von Hochkulturen zu entwickeln. "Wissenschaftlich" bedeutet für ihn die Ermittlung objektiver, allgemeingültiger Gesetzmäßigkeiten, deren Erklärung, sowie deren Einsatz zu diagnostischen und prognostischen Zwecken. Konkret gesagt besteht seine überzeugend begründete These darin, dass die Entwicklung von Hochkulturen nach einer inneren Logik verläuft, die sich mit sieben Etappen veranschaulichen lässt: Mixture- Gestation- Expansion - Age of Conflict - Universal Empire - Decay - Invasion. Je nach Rahmenbedingungen können Dauer und Ausprägung der einzelnen Stadien sich von Zivilisation zu Zivilisation unterscheiden, ihre Abfolge ist jedoch insbesondere durch eine innere Dynamik vorgeprägt, die Luhmann später in seinen "Sozialen Systemen" im Einzelnen ausgearbeitet hat: Staatliche Instrumente und Wirtschaftsformen, die ursprünglich die Funktionen hatten, Wohlstand zu schaffen und die soziale Ordnung zu garantieren beanspruchen aufgrund ihrer zentralen Rolle mehr und mehr Ressourcen, die in zunehmenden Maße für den Fortbestand des Systems eingesetzt werden und daher der Gesellschaft nicht mehr zur Verfügung stehen. Solange das System durch Eroberung sich neue Ressourcen aneignen kann vermag es zwar sich selbst künstlich zu erhalten, doch dieser Prozess stößt irgendwann an seine natürlichen Grenzen und es droht der Zusammenbruch der sozialen und wirtschaftlichen Ordnung, sofern das für die Herausbildung der einzelnen Zivilisation maßgebliche wirtschaftlich-politisch-soziale System (Sklavenhaltertum + Oligarchie, Merkantilismus + Ständeordnung etc.) sich nicht grundlegend reformiert (was im allgemeinen nicht der Fall ist).Diese Analyse besitzt etwas Bestechendes, wird sie vom Autor doch durch viele Beispiele untermauert. Insbesondere wenn man sie Oswald Spenglers "Untergang des Abendlandes" aus den 20er Jahren entgegenhält, der von einem ähnlich organischen Zivilisationsbegriff ausgegangen war, diesen jedoch aufgrund des unterlegten national-esoterischen Pathos indiskutabel gemacht hatte.Betrachtet man die US-Außenpolitik (USA als erstarkte Peripherie der europäischen Zivilisation, ähnlich wie Rom die erstarkte Peripherie der griechischen Zivilisation war) als seit dem 2.Weltkrieg unter dieser Perspektive und insbesondere die Entwicklungen im Pazifik und der Ukraine, dann stellen sich etwa die Aussagen des bekannten und eher liberal einzuschätzenden Politologen John J. Mearsheimer über die Gesetze der Hegemonialpolitik unter einem sehr viel allgemeineren und grundsätzlicheren Blickwinkel dar als dies üblicherweise in den Diskussionen der Fall ist und man ahnt, was noch kommen könnte, auch wenn das Buch dem Publikationsdatum (1961) entsprechend beim Kalten Krieg endet.Ein Muss für jeden, der verstehen möchte, wie die ganz großen geschichtlichen Mechanismen funktionieren.

The first fifty pages start off a little slowly. Then things absolutely take off. This is a masterpiece of historical analysis. Quigley breaks down the evolution of a civilization into seven stages. He explains each category, and lists typical examples of events that occur in each category. Quigley then expands into several civilizations including; Mesopotamian, Canaanite, Classical, and Western civilization. He lists examples of each society, as they move through the seven different phases of social evolution. Anyone that enjoys reading history, will find Quigley`s evaluation fascinating. The rise and fall of societies, the motivations for warfare, religious outlooks, pursuit of science, technological innovations, and much more, all get tied together. Quigley`s goal as teacher was to get his students thinking. He did not want them to just digest information. Well trust me on this one folks, this book we get you contemplating on all sorts of ideas.

A powerful book

Very good book but Quigley is weak on prehistory. Many of the trends his highlights in a collapsing civilization are occurring to the West now. Well worth a read.