2.1 The Axial Transition
Last modified 05/26/2008
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We have seen that the phenomenon of the Axial Age makes sense as part of a
larger pattern embedded in world history, in fact, as a transitional phase in a
sequence, one so far showing three steps. It is remarkable, and yet makes sense,
to consider such a 'cyclical' interpretation, mindful that we are left
suspicious that we are missing something earlier, most probably in the
Neolithic, that will either complete or extend that sequence. We don't need to
decide, or conclude anything finally: it is enough to see that the Axial Age
represents a stage in a larger phenomenon of the emergence of civilization. Many
questions remain about that larger system, and how we should understand it, but
as we examine the Axial Age as a whole we see that its relative brevity, sudden
onset, and waning aftermath suddenly make complete sense if we think in terms of
an 'Axial transition'. Transition from what to what we can't say for sure,
although on one level we see something almost obvious about it, in the way one
stage of culture, or cultures, abruptly moves within the space of a few
centuries to another stage of culture, thence of world history. We are beginning
to sense that there is something larger at work than the histories of the
particular cultures that make up the Axial set. In fact we see that the Axial
transition is made up of a series of sub-transitions, as it were, the Greek,
etc, ... These are equally spread out across Eurasia and seem on the one hand to
stage the realization of a particular culture, and yet on the other advance the
overall Eurasian, indeed global, sphere.
We have therefore the idea of a transition, hence the Axial transition, which we need to formalize in some kind of historical model. But, all of a sudden, the Old Testament, for example, begins to be understandable in a new way, in light of the general concept of an 'Axial transition'. |
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