If Western civilization's cardinal characteristics are unique reference of value system to which I refer, it is not to imply that this civilization and its values are superior to those of others.
I do not adhere to this vision. Western civilization has within it the seeds of its own destruction. It has shown it on numerous past occasions : during the Crusades, the Inquisition, the period of Nation-state colonial empires, the totalitarian ascension of belligerent Nazi or Goulag Empires.
What Confucianism taught China, what Buddhism taught Asia, what remote civilizations bring to simpler eco-system type human communities in Arctic circle, in Amazonia, in tribal Africa, in Guinea and elsewhere, is specific and enriching to humanity; in many ways superior to the accumulative knowledge wealth of western civilization, in terms of criteria which are beyond the scope of my quest. From an ethnological viewpoint I adhere to the relativistic approach to civilizations as expressed by Claude Levi Strauss.
I also apply the Neti-Neti principle to eliminate from my investigation all relevance of creationist logic to historical precedence and analogy. The role of religion is only recognised as an attribute to the geo-political, socio-economic and cultural evolution of society; not its spiritual contribution which is not moot point here.
I do however admit that all argument and debate should consider the contribution of all avenues of good faith, as long as they are based on irrefutable fact and logic.
Enlightenment belongs to no school of thought or line of culture.
I also recognise the limitations of scientism as an excessively reductionist construct that tries to establish a universally applicable methodology that incenses the philosophy of positivism, the ideal of human progress. Human systems are more complex than that and holistic solutions are more and more appropriate to analyse modern social constructs of our day and age. The events of the Twentieth century have taught us that the great failing of the prophets of progress of the Enlightenment was that they underestimated the extent of man's destructiveness and irrationality. This regressive trait of human nature is now a constant element of modern life.
But within these limitations dialectics and analytic logic can provide new ways of interpreting past events and their interactivity with the evolution of society. It remains a never ending game, whose intricacy and potential novelty never ceases to surprise each generation; as we look behind us to understand what lies ahead.
The Odyssey of our lives.
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