10-16-2019, 02:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-16-2019, 02:31 PM by Eric the Green.)
Toynbee is a cyclic theorist. The basic idea of cyclic theory is not that everything is always in decline, but that after a decline and death a new birth comes. The question is where are we on the cycle. And how do you define who "we" are, and what a rise and decline looks like, and so on. And what is the length of the cycle you refer to, since there may be many. Different theories have different answers.
I tend to agree that the Renaissance was the start of our civilization, but I prefer to think that the Renaissance era ended at the turn of the 20th century. Our times today since then are not just a continuation of the Renaissance, but a new beginning that altered that older era. That puts us close to a beginning of a civilization cycle rather than near the end. But if you define our civilization as having been founded by the Declaration of Independence, then we are farther along.
I tend to agree that the Renaissance was the start of our civilization, but I prefer to think that the Renaissance era ended at the turn of the 20th century. Our times today since then are not just a continuation of the Renaissance, but a new beginning that altered that older era. That puts us close to a beginning of a civilization cycle rather than near the end. But if you define our civilization as having been founded by the Declaration of Independence, then we are farther along.