How Did Western Society Got In Such A Pickle? A Discussion
Part I: Introduction And The Organic Society
Introduction
One of the most enjoyable college courses I taught was a five week course titled, Social and Political Philosophy. I loved teaching this course. We would participate in many class activities like the prisoner’s dilemma and the class mingle. I always felt like my students left having learned many new things. Although we faculty used a suggested course outline, I usually added my own activities and content.
The course was a review of the history of Western Thought and covered ideas from the Pre-Socratics through the present day.
In essence, we looked at the broad themes and ideas of western thought. Although we examined several contributors to western thought such as Plato and Aristotle, the objective of the course was to examine the broader themes, influences and ideas that influence us today. Therefore, in these discussions we begin will not discuss specific thinkers such as Plato, but rather larger themes and concepts.
This overview is broken down into several major themes. Those themes are: The Organic Society, The Reformation, The Rise Of Capitalism, The Scientific Revolution, The Enlightenment, The End Of Determinism And The Modern Age. Part I discusses the Organic Society and covers everything from the pre-socratics through Plato and Aristotle to the end of the Middle Ages. Part II will discuss the Reformation, the rise of science, and the rise of capitalism. Part III will discuss the Enlightenment. Part IV includes the end of determinism and the modern age. We begin with the organic society.
The Organic Society
Until the 16th and 17th centuries most cultures and social structures were organized around a few basic principles. These principles were seen in cultures ranging from the earliest civilizations through the Medieval times. They were practiced in most societies from Native Americans to early Asian and European cultures. We call these cultures the organic society.
The term “organic society” refers to the belief that nature was organic. “From the obscure origins of our species, human beings have lived in daily, immediate organic relation with the natural order for their sustenance.” Merchant, Carolyn, The Death of Nature: HarperOne: 1990.
Although in these contemporary times, the term organic usually refers to living organisms, and their structure and organs. Used in a historical sense however, this term means that humanity lived in harmony with nature.
Some of the characteristics of the organic society were the belief that social structure was a hierarchy. Using the human body as a metaphor and observing the organizations of ant and bee colonies, humans believed that everything had its proper place. From the social order of kings and queens to Aristotle’s ‘theory of proper places,’ the social structure was hierarchical.
Another characteristic of the organic culture was the concept of community. An enduring principle was that the good of the whole took precedence over the good of the individual. There was a money market based on money exchanges, property rights and beliefs about the dominion of the earth.
Excessive greed especially regarding money or property was frowned upon. Why would anyone want more money or property than they could handle? They thought such people were crazy; today they think you are crazy if you are not greedy.
The organic society was holistic. Nature was an organic whole where natural and human cycles were integrated. Seasons and times regulated social living. Throughout most of human history the average workday length was three hours. While it is true that during harvest or planting seasons, one might work from dawn to dusk, averaged over the course of a year the work day was three hours.
“For most of human history people only worked two or three hours a day. As we moved from agriculture to industrialization, work hours increased, creating standards that label a person lazy if he or she doesn’t work a forty hour week….. the very notion that everyone should have a job only began with the industrial revolution.”
Dr. Frithjof Bergman
“All these communities have demonstrated what practical Dr. Benjamin Franklin said, ‘that if everyone worked bodily three hours daily, there would be no necessity of anyone’s working more than three hours.”
John Humprey Noyles, founder of the Oneida Community
“Everyone, rich or poor, must work three hours a day in order to produce only the practical necessities of life….work three hours a day and live in the luxury of literary wealth and have time to do what is meaningful to us.”
Paramahansa Yogananda
During the non-working times and seasons, people celebrated holidays and other events.
When the industrial revolution came, that the belief was that every one should work a full day shattered this life style.
What we lost and gained in the transformation from an organic society to an industrial one.
1. Lost of family, community, and cultural ties.
2. Gained underemployment, menial jobs, and repetitive work.
3. Gained career plateaus.
4. Gained job and retirement insecurity.
5. Gained job dissatisfaction.
We shall speak more on this later.
Not only was work not the focus of organic life, but work was integrated with all other aspects of life.
Another value of the organic society was the concept of communal sharing. Goods, property and knowledge were shared among all. Goods were produced for use rather than profit.
Women were afforded higher status, even though physical limitations might restrict some activities.
I do not want to leave the impression that the organic society was was one of idyllic pleasures. There was much poverty, illness, and ignorance. It was by no means perfect.
In the remaining parts of this series, we shall look at how the organic society lost its vision of a nature-centered universe and became more mechanistic. Around the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, three things happen to change the course of human history. These three events would not only bring about a more mechanical and deterministic society, but would reduce humanity to the role of a machine.
We will conclude this series by showing how mechanism and determinism are ending in front of our eyes.
