...Since the beginning of its definition, the term “civilization” has been defined in numerous ways. It is nearly synonymous with the definition of culture (Wei, 2011, p. 1), perhaps leaving one in dismay to a conclusive definition and definite distinction between them. I personally believe civilizations are collectively defined through the study of humanities, as a progressive society of creative, intellectual, social and material development of a variety of different people. These studies are an essential way of understanding how we define civilization while bringing an understanding to the history and the marvels before our time. Having said that, the objective of this discussion is to distinctively define the controversial term “civilization” and elaborate its relation to the humanities. In order to accurately define civilization it is essential to compare many numerous similarities to the word culture and draw out distinct differences. For example, they both take into aspect the way of life of a certain group of people. These include customs, traditional beliefs, habits, languages etc. (Eagleton, 2000). One may conclude that they are one in the same. However, civilization is attributed to a group of people of a much larger scale. Beginning as a product of culture, through evolution these customs, traditions, beliefs, etc. all collaborated on a more populous scale, thus developing a more advanced civilization. In the same sense, a culture being notably more discreet is attributed...
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... Civilization What is meant by the term “Civilization” Kenneth Dutton EG 362 Humanities 2 Civilization What is meant by the term “Civilization” and how we characterize it? What role do the humanities play in this definition? The definition of civilization is an advance state of human society that shows high levels of culture, science, industry and the government have been reached. Specifically the state of cultural development at which writing and the keeping of written records is attained. Humanities by definition is the documentation of human being through stories, paintings, religion and beliefs. The stories around the campfire, family heirlooms that come with a story, the journaling of our experiences and lives all become a form of humanities that is passed on to the next civilization after it. Humanities is shown through art and paintings, but does not stop there. The paintings not only tell a story in picture, but document the evolvement in skill of art with techniques and tools. The documentation of beliefs allowing for the development of religion organized societies, giving order or sense of normalcy in the burial of bodies and or praying to a god. In religion art made its presence through sculptures used in religious content. These definitions of humanities were first present in the First Human...
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...The definition of a civilization according to Huntington is a cultural entity. It is the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species. It is defined by common elements such as: language, history, religion, customs, institutions and the self identification of people. Civilizations may include a large number of people or a very small number of people. They may include several Nation States or only one. They can blend or overlap and even include sub civilizations. Huntington's definition of a civilization matches up well with what we have learned in class. Civilization's are complex and civilizations are dynamic. They rise and fall, and divide and merge. They have many characteristics which include: urban revolution, distinct religious culture, new political and military structures such as bureaucracy, new social structures based on political power, the development of writing and the development of war complexity in material sense. Huntington divided the world into seven other civilizations, Western, Latin American, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu and Slavic-Orthodox. He said that Africa was only a possible civilization. Huntington said that “people's religious and cultural identities will be the main source of conflict in the post- cold war world” and there will be conflict between Western Civilizations and Islamic Civilizations because of seven main reasons...
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...In order to determine whether or not a society can be considered a civilization, it is essential to have a clear definition of the word itself. Webster's dictionary defines a civilization as an advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of writing, and the appearance of complex political and social institutions. Although that may be the definition in the dictionary, I believe civilization to be the way of life started by people who live in unified cities. However, V. Gordon Childe, a famous archeologist, created ten conditions, which he felt needed to be fulfilled in order to consider a society a civilization. While each of Childe's ten conditions are all of importance, it is essentially incorrect to assume that a society is not a civilization simply because it does not fulfill all of the conditions. The concepts of class stratification is well defined and clearly cut in Childe’s work. It is now essential to define this condition and then apply it to...
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...Tymesha Hankerson Foster, 1B August 26, 2012 Civilization Essay Would you think people who are considered uncivilized help make the world what it is today? The definition of being civilized is to bring people to a stage of social, cultural, and moral development. Before we got to where we are today the Paleolithic Age was the first stage to go through; the Neolithic Age brought us to the Last Ice Age and agriculture was created. This also established into the different way civilization was interpreted between cultures. From 2,500,000 B.C.E. to 10,000 B.C.E. human species were getting to know each other and finding ways to survive. The tools they used were made from natural findings such as stones, bones, and wood. Each person had a task to complete. Men had to hunt and women gathered things and kept the tribe or village in order. During this period there was no idea of living idle. Wherever the food went so did the human species. The maximum size for any group was 30, meaning the groups weren’t big. In between the time Paleolithic Age began and ended, the Last Ice Age came along. Quickly there was a change on the eating schedule. It went from hunting and gathering to strictly agriculture. Agriculture has played an enormous part of the lifestyle we live today. Things such as job specialization, cities, writing, and the government have all came from the creation of agriculture. Humans learned to tame and control wild animals and taught themselves self-control as well. When...
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...Importance of the culture of science Scientific development, prosperity and welfare are dedicated to all men of all nations. The culture of science is inevitable as one of the tools of gradual development of civilization in fields, like food, cloth home, medical treatment, education, industrial mills, conveyance and transport, communication and exchange of information, information – management, the extraction of natural wealth and preservation space – research etc. During the middle of the 18th century new industrial mills were established in England with the help of newly discovered machines, steam engine and various kinds of machines. As a result production increasing manifold. This new era of industry is called a industry revolution It has been possible to goods and their sale increased. The following that below: 1. a. The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. b. These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population: Edwardian culture; Japanese culture; the culture of poverty. c. These patterns, traits, and products considered with respect to a particular category, such as a field, subject, or mode of expression: religious culture in the Middle Ages; musical culture; oral culture. d. The predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning...
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...Civilization – A Definition What do ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform writing tablets, Egyptian pyramids of Giza, inscribed oracle bones from ancient Chinese divine rituals, and automobiles have in common? Each of these objects represents a bi-product of an ancient or modern civilization. However, many anthropologists, historians, theorists and sociologists alike disagree with regard to how the term civilization should be defined. According to sociologist Robert Park, “Civilization […] is the result of man’s effort to use the resources of his environment in order to change nature and, where possible, make it less raw, more comfortable and less difficult to endure” (Park, 132). He reasons that civilization should be measured by man’s degree of conquest over nature (133). Historian and author Felipe Fernández-Armesto describes civilization as both a “process of collective self-differentiation from a world characterized […] as barbaric or savage or primitive” and a stage reached when a particular society reaches its “climax” (Fernández-Armesto, 13). While peace activist Scott Nearing believed civilization to be the “most comprehensive, extensive and inclusive life pattern achieved by terrestrial humanity,” the philosopher and revolutionary Karl Marx believed that the beginning of civilization symbolized the beginning of oppression (Nearing, 54). In the simplest sense, the Oxford English Dictionary defines the verb “to civilize” as “to bring out of a state of barbarism, to instruct...
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...Civilization Civilization is a hard word to explain, in one word or in a sentence, because it depends on how the society is built and there are many different aspects. Civilization comes from the word civis, which comes from Latin, and means citizen of a city. When you take a look in the mirror, have you ever thought about that you belong to a certain identical group and that your language or culture even could be some of your personality behaviors are a sign of the particular civilization? What is civilization? And how is Civilization defined? According to the dictionary “Civilization” means a society, its culture and way of living life. The definition of civilization refers to a society or it can be group of people or the process of achieving a higher state of social development. When we look at R.Cobb´s drawing about civilization, we see these two mason where some people are blocked inside them both, those peoples are exactly the same but they have created too parts of different civilization and one of the group consider the other group to be “mentally ill” and reverse. A example could be the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been going on for 65 years. The new born state took its place back in May 1948. They got mandates for Britain, to occupate the county of the Palestinians. They performed ethnic cleansing, which resulted in millions of refugees of Palestinians in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Then they came up with the apartheid politics, which resulted in a wall...
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...Civilization is difficult to define in one word or phrase because a complex society or “civilization” depends on many different aspects. There are characteristics of a civilization that are more essential than others, some of which may be more important to one group than to another group. However, a definition for civilization can be narrowed down to a few fundamental aspects that are necessary for one to exist. For a complex society to exist, it must have means to provide for a growing population. Acquiring resources is vital for a civilization to flourish. The earliest civilizations all seemed to have a need for an organized administration system. In a society with a growing population and expanding territories, we can see the need for a hierarchical government to keep them operating. Civilization is the way of life that began by those who live in cities. Civilization comes from the word civis, which is a Latin word meaning citizen of a city. Civilization is characterized by everything that makes up the way of life in a city. This includes form of government, arts, customs, and technology. Civilization is similar to a culture except that civilization is more advanced and complex. Everyone has a culture but not everyone is in a civilization. The increase in agriculture and domestication of animals were major steps in civilization. This supported everyone in a small town. Trade was involved in which they exchanged grain, pottery, and various raw materials. Everything in the...
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...Non-Usefulness of Post-Modernity and the Importance of “Critical Thinking” in the Humanities This sociological study will define the non-usefulness of “post-modernism” as a threat to the scientific foundations of modernism in the lack of “critical thinking” in the humanities. The premise of modernism is defined by the notion of human “progress” through a deterministic and scientific view of the humanity into higher functionality of civilized society. In contrast to this objective view of human progress, post-modernism has created various subjective assumptions about western civilization, which form academic opinions that are not based on objective reality. Latour’s (2004) examination of the “hermeneutics of suspicion”...
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...“Clash not Culture” Cultural differences in a post-Cold War era will not empirically lead to more frequent and violent conflicts between civilizations, regardless of their relationship or proximity to each other. As proven through history, conflict is inevitable and today theorists continue to debate where and why the next war will occur. Our world is a mist a diverging global society with non-state actors competing for new world order. Many states are suffering great turmoil, while others are gaining economic strength and power. Although the world has reached a point that we are poised for conflict, there has actually been a decline in conflict among civilizations. Among those that are geographically positioned for a border dispute, there has been no significant increase in conflict. Many would argue that clashes between western civilizations and non-western civilizations should be at the top of the list, but this has not been the case either. Conflict and war has occurred since the beginning of man and has been recorded right along religious strife. Conflict occurs for several basic reasons including: an attempt to increase a standard of living, to prevent a decrease in a standard of living, greed-more power and territory, religious idealism, and corrupt governments. When developing an analysis to determine the next confrontation, there are several points that must be considered: relative power of non-state ...
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...APPLIED MANAGEMENT PROJECT (BSS000-6) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank the Almighty Allah for his mercies up on to this very point. Without him I would not have been able to complete this dissertation. I also want to say a big thank you to my parents Mr. and Mrs. Olayinka and my siblings Bisi, Tayo and Leye Olayinka for their guidance and financial assistance, without them this wouldn’t have been possible. I would also like to thank all of the friends I met here in Luton from the very first day up until this very point. I will not be able to mention names because you are all too many but your friendship is worth more than gold or silver. A special mention goes out to all of my tutors throughout the duration of the Masters program. Your efforts via lectures and academic advice will not be in vain. Table of Contents Executive Summary CHAPTER ONE Aims and Objectives of the Study The main aim and objective of this study/report is to critically evaluate and understand the use and importance of public relations management in the modern era, with special consideration on the role social media plays in crisis management. Objectives In order to achieve the aim the following objectives must be met: * To understand the meaning of Public Relations. * To trace the history and development of Public Relations. * To understand and highlight social media as an important tool in PR management. * To highlight the PR activities of the 2 companies...
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...• How is the word myth used popularly? For example, what does the statement, “It’s a myth” mean? In contrast, how is the word myth used in the academic context? After considering the definition in your textbooks and course materials, write a definition in your own words. 1. I believe in today’s world when the word “myth” is used, most people are saying it in the context that something is made up and/or is untrue. It takes the place of phrases such as “that’s an old wives’ tale” or “that’s an urban legend.” In academic context, a myth is a story that did or did not happen and has been passed down for years and years basically. After considering the definition in the course material and textbook, and from the information on how the myth is used in today’s society, I think that the definition I had in my head of what the word myth means stays pretty much the same. I think that a myth is just a story that is continuously passed on from generation to generation that can’t be proven. The loch ness monster is a good example. Plenty of stories about seeing the mythological icon, but no proof. • Why do myths from different cultures around the world address such similar or universal themes? Think about how myths explain the unknown and the tribulations of mankind. 2. I think that different cultures address similar themes because of the way the myths have been told. Each culture may have the same myths in their history, but just a different way of telling it. For instance...
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...Emasculated Reality The novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is filled with a large number of motifs from downward movement and destruction to overall decay. The unnamed narrator uses motifs to show images and pictures of greater themes throughout the novel. The narrator and other main character Tyler Durden share the feeling that civilization has emasculated men and, “What you see at fight club is a generation of men raised by women” (Palahniuk 50). The author shows the reader many themes by describing overly vivid motifs that represent them. Motifs are images that show up throughout a work. Fight Club uses motifs of downward movement and disintegration to point to the larger themes of emasculation, self-destruction and rejection of civilization. Motifs of downward movement in the novel make visible many of the cultural norms, by which the narrator feels extremely emasculated. Not only do cultural norms make him feel emasculated, but also being surrounded by men who don't typically fit the definition of a man. The narrator himself doesn’t fit the definition of a typical man. He works a cubicle 9 to 5 job that is split with being sent all across the country like a carrier pigeon, evaluating insurance claims on failed safety equipment in cars that have already been subject to horrible life threatening accidents. Emasculation hits the narrator when he feels like it pointless to die in a body without few scars. The narrator says, “It’s nothing anymore to have a beautiful stock...
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...beliefs, justifications and domination. Looking at Osterhammel, a imperialist scholar, and his definitions of colonialism, we will see how the Romans can have a sense of superiority, a divine right to rule over barbaric peoples, and can be just as exploitive and dominating as modern empires, specifically in Gaul. Osterhammel defines colonialism in a long and specific definition. He splits it up into many parts, the first of which being a “relationship of domination between an indigenous majority and a minority of invaders (Osterhammel...
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