At 07:58 AM 10/5/01 -0700, Nick Arnett wrote:
>Fukuyama's arguments, especially in this editorial, only support the idea
>that our system is the best that humanity has come up with, not that it is
>the best we will *ever* come up with. Only someone who can see throughout
>all of time really knows what the future will hold. Arguing about whether a
>better system is possible or not is useless; until something is demonstrated
>to be better, which only history will tell, there will be no proof.
Before I begin, I want to note that I agree with your last conclusion
there. There is no proof in philosophy. Nevertheless, I do not think
that the absence of proof in philosophy should preclude from saying that we
have arrived at "Truth." Of course, it is *possible* that someday we may
have to take back our proud declarations of having arrived at "Truth", but
after careful and thoughtful deliberation, I think we should still not shy
from emphatically proclaiming the Truths that we know.
With that being said, I think that there is an awful lot of Western
Civilization that *WILL* prove immutable over time, or at least it will be
proven by what ever post-human archaeologists examine our legacy after we
have left.
In particular, I consider Modern* Western Civilization to be fundamentally
underpinned by perhaps the most important quote in the United States'
Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among
Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."
If you want Western Civilization in a nutshell, I don't know that you can
do much better than that. As I see it, the above makes three essential
points:
1) Every person has an inherent right to Life. It is unjust and immoral
for any other person or any other government to needlessly take someone's
Life away.
2) Every person has a right to Liberty. Liberty is freedom of thought and
belief. It is also the freedom to engage in any action that does not harm
another. No person and no government has a right to deny Liberty to
another. Persons freely exercising their Liberty will pursue their own
Happiness.
3) Just governments derive from the consent of the governed. The purpose
of government is to safeguard the Rights of the governed from violation.
Governments which do not have the consent of the governed, or do not
protect the Rights of the governed are unjust and have no right to
continued existence.
I find it inconceivable that these three ideas will be substantially
changed over the course of history. As Jefferson put it, these Truths are
"self-evident." Moreover, Fukuyama is absolutely right about two
characterizations. First, these ideas are *spreading*, and are moving
across the globe. Additionally, I have no doubt in my mind that if there
is a differnet civilization that will eventually displace Western
Civilization - it does not yet exist. All of the non-Western
Civlizations out there that do not embrace the above ideas are inferior to
Western Civilization, and will eventually be discarded in favor of the
above. At this point, it is only a matter of time.
Thus, Nick, if you are right that there is an "after" to Western
Civilization, it will likely not occur until long after Western
Civilization has taken complete control of every corner of the globe.
Thus, in my mind, Fukuyama was right. In 1989 we were standing at the
beginning of the end of history. Once communism collapsed, there was no
longer anything left that could oppose Western Civilization, and its future
spread was inevitable. If some great philosopher does develop an "after"
to Western Civlization, it will be in such a far-off day and world, that
such an event could only be described as a "New Beginning to History",
rather than a continuation of our current history.
JDG
* - Fukuyama shortens "Modern Western Civlization" to "modernity." I will
shorter it to Western Civilization, although Western Civ clearly has a lot
more history behind it than its current incarnation.
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"Freedom itself was attacked today, and Freedom will be Defended."
-U.S. President George W. Bush, 09/11/01
