Western Civilization

Structured society relies on people knowing how to survive, and also how to survive with others. According to Owen, (1997), there exist the general skeleton of the social order which is so well distinct, planned, and planned that there’s room for personal freedom and creativity within the organization. In structured society, people works while every individual knowing his duty, for example if the society is structured, socially politically and economically. There need to be law and order hence need for specialization, this reduces conflict in terms of role assignment.

The specialization is known to be the major drive for civilization. When mixed with division of labor, specialization allows for maintenance of law and order. In such societies duties and responsibilities are stated, for example in political structure we have the roles of the president affirmed and written in the constitution therefore one has guidelines to abide with. The leader has to have subject to rule, it’s not possible to have rulers if you have no people to rule, hence need for structured society whereby people are civilized and are able to live together in harmony.

Law and order is very vital in such societies (Owen, 1997).

Christiano (2004) observes that when we live within the law, we share in the common good which helps all, and provides for a better world to grow and live in. But In Aristotelian scholasticism, ethics which are the basis for law are understood to mean the science for good life (Barford, 1996). In the same context, man is regarded as rational animal and therefore able to act in accordance with the right reason and also able to act justly and courageous.

Get quality help now

Sweet V

Verified

Proficient in: Human Rights

4.9 (984)

“ Ok, let me say I’m extremely satisfy with the result while it was a last minute thing. I really enjoy the effort put in. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

As members of the society, we are supposed to come together and advance based on the laws of the society we live in.  Reilly (2000) thinks that liberty was necessary for revolution only when used like a guiding rule, he emphasized that independence of each person must be respected. However, according to him total freedom for all cannot exist as a basis of the society. For one person to have entirely autonomy over another person, the other person will have to give up their freedom to allow the former to survive. When people move from their tribal clique, races to join new people in the working places for example town, they are said to undergo civilization which is a slow process which started long time ago more than 5000 years ago (Jessop, 1998). Civilization brings positive competition where everyone will do his best to be on the top of other ladder, sparkle. Civilized People are able to live together irrespective of their social background; it has increased trust between individuals to an extent that people are able to collect each other whenever a neighbor go astray, therefore togetherness in the community.

Natural law is viewed by many philosophers as the instrument used in the exploration of gods will. As Martin, (1999) explains, natural law is different from theology, in that it does not rely fully on supernatural law or revealed sources but on empirical evidence concerning human existence and nature. Natural law is a source of social norm in the society. It provides the basis for moral system in different religious group. According to Owen (1997), in whatever setting of the society and religion, all share the common frame work of natural law. Looking at the process of absorbing social norm, members of a society utilize socialization and education to distinguish between the good and the evil. Social norms are based on human nature and are important convections required to achieve social stability. The major objective of natural law is to make or sustain socially valued roles for people in their society, in case where an individual holds valued social roles, one is highly likely to receive in return those good things in life that are obtainable in that society hence the society always a way of paying those people who adhere to its norms. In additional all sorts valued things that other people are able to pass on are almost involuntarily accorded to a person who holds societal appreciated roles, at least within the resources and norms ones society. (Barford, 1996).

Most human being societies have adopted certain societal norms which result either from ethics or from intrinsic ideas. But according to Young, (2003), consequences are that they partially result to human societies being unable to forbid impunity. Eventually, serious tensions picks in the society that may lead to society’s demolition. Men in general learn to differentiate between good and evil through learning and socialization. Through reason, a man is able to distinguish between what is unacceptable and what can be accepted in a particular society. Some norms are vital for social stability and in this sense such norms are based on human natural history, they are conventions that we need to have a stable society.  Therefore society norms and ethics have a major role in setting the society free from disorder (Barford, 1996).

If law totally breaks down, then society is worse off than before (Owen, 1997). Socrates believed in this statement and totally refused to break the law. He wondered what kind of citizen he will be if he refused to accept the ruling of the jury. In addition Reilly (2000) in his book the social organization of today are dissimilar from the first civilizations in that primitive cultures depended on unity of people to live. However currently everyone depends on cash inform of monitory value and it has established the same as the common good. According to Kibuka (2000), the society without cash would work mainly because it goes against individual nature. No matter how genuine and accountable people are civilized, people always need a reward. He continue to express criticism that without the reward everything will have no value hence the world will still be far away from civilization. In his book Reilly (2000) argues that an operational, liberated and just society must rest on a basic principle. Right liberty cannot be real for all, unless the civil liberties of all are valued by all, these right can be liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

According to Karl Marx, order is highly important for the organization and for maintenance of all human societies and to bring about civilization. He said the higher rank of order a society achieves, the more superior the society tends to be unable to find order and indeed the more chaotic it become (young, 2003). Marx contradicts with Reilly (2000) who thought civilization goes hand in hand with law and order in the system. He points out that through the period of anarchy and revolution a society mainly lack order and therefore becomes chaotic. Both Marx and Reilly (2000) however converge on the same thoughts that societies have a lot of the attributes of the united system; through swapping matter and energy to their surroundings as they add to their order specialization tend to develop.

The world is an island and therefore we all need each other to survive and we communication which is the key to the organization and development of all human societies; this involves use of words and symbols. It’s therefore very vital to have a pattern of value, order and norms so that law and order will be maintained in a society; this explains why in a structured society there is need for law and order. In addition order and pattern is the core of social union and function (Cohen & Arato, 2001). Karl Marx quoted that though much energy is put in a society to maintain order, change is unavoidable hence he believed that every society can be destroyed if unity is not maintained by law and order (Young, 2003). At this juncture, Marx was in agreement with (Reilly 2000) who argued out that for there to be order in the society we need law to be followed for law and orders go hand in hand.  Reilly (2000) believed that rational societies were structured to attain goals flexibly and were able to meet the test of time therefore adjusting for better.

In what I regard as the major achievement of the Greek and Roman Empires, the ancient Greek empire has contributed a lot to civilization of the west. Since inception the Greek philosophy, it has continued to shape the whole of western thought impacting on modern philosophy and modern science (Jessop, 1998). Although many philosophers believe that neither inquiry nor the reason began with the ancient Greeks, the Socratic methods together with his ideas of form are entirely from the Greek. Socrates who was the teacher for Plato was an Athenian philosopher who believed that a person should strive always to do well. He emphasized that one should always know you and he was known for disobeying the bad command (Barford, 1996). Aristotle and Plato work forms the major philosophies that have greatly influenced the western philosophy. The Greece’s were very good in art, history, art and science which many countries including western countries borrowed to shape their growth of civilization. All these cultures begun with what is known as golden age of Greece: it’s the time of cultural prosperity peace and time of law and order in Greece. More so myths, Olympics, democracy rule of law all originated in Greece.  Greek’s had a very rich culture which influenced western civilization. The most notable was mainly their philosophy and its culture which dictates their rich norms and values (Hefner, 1998).

Greek scientist made radical discoveries in several fields like in mathematics, physics, medicine, biology and astronomy. This forms part of the reason why Greek civilization is still regarded as mother of discoveries. On addition it was first in Greeks where commercial trading post and colonies were founded this led to the growth of trade which in turn led to adoption of septic alphabetical scrip. These scripts led to the development of the subject mathematic. The Greek had several enemies who wanted to conquer them. The conflicts with the Persians did not only make the Greek Empire become very strong but also allowed establishing a very strong form of government which favored specialization (Hefner, 1998).

To an extent ancient Greece affected civilization of the west with politics, this is because the Greece was the first to establish the democratic systems.  Laws as it’s in many western countries laws were voted on and proposed directly by the assembly of all citizens therefore Greece offered a form of government which is used by the western countries including the US. A form of government which has the Executive branch, the judicial branch and the judicial branch began with the Greece and later borrowed by the west. Greece was the first to realize the important of sports and make sport their tradition hence the first Olympic was held there. Surprisingly, up to date the western countries still compete on the same sports which were held on the first Olympics (Martin, 1999).For ancient Roman, Engineering was a main issue influencing western civilization. Nowadays the Greek technologies are used to build bridges, harbors and roads were buildings in the west. Cohen and Arato (2001) express no doubt that civilization of the west has been shaped and largely based on Greece’s powerful politics, philosophers, medics, sports and classical art.

The society has played a big role in the invention of law, in order to advance the concept of the common good. The common good was crucial to normative vision of what can be regarded as good life during the time of the Greek moral philosophy that formed the basis of western thought. The common good entails grasping idea that a person as sacred and social. Common good is based on understanding that human rights and dignity together with well being and human potential are achieved in one’s moral ecology. On the other hand it is the social justice that orients the moral action to the common good. Every person in the society who is dedicated to the quality of life and to the well being of every body gives in to the common good of all since.

Plato asserted that in a just society, citizen bestowed themselves to the common good, act morally and wisely, and practices the occupation they are best suited. Aristotle contrary to that recommended that a state should be governed by middle class, because he thought that they are likely to struggle for fairness of the common good. Moreover he stressed that an individual depends on the society in order to survive a truly human life, and even that the state is a natural creation that precedes a person (Owen, 1997). As per St. Augustine, he diverted the natural law of society from one based on reason to one based on divine rule. In his argument, St Augustine Hefner (1998) apprehends God and churches as the vital base of civic virtue, law and order of the social order. Therefore religion is very important in shaping human destiny, for church offers laws and ethics to be followed. Its society’s role to come out with guidelines for defining what is norm and what is right. It is also the society role in general to mold its own people. It has a function of maintaining law and order hence protecting its people. Jessop, (1998) asserts that the main function of civil society is to compel human beings to respect one another’s rights. Civilization can be achieved only when the civil societies in the western countries protect its members to pursue diverse interest at the same time the political parties striving to guide the members towards party goals. Nevertheless, many philosophers predict that the western civilization is on the verge of collapsing. Cohen and Arato (2001) attribute the collapse to invasion of the west culture by other cultures. Although, the west citizens are slowly rejecting their community culture, they still hold some sense of commitment towards it.