The Origins and Diversity of Axial Age Civilizations

Preface

Preface The papers presented in this volume were presented in a conference on the Origins and Diversity of Axial Age Civilizations-the first of three conferences on the Origins and Dynamics of Axial Age Civilizations, sponsored by the Wemer-Reimer Stiftung at Bad Homburg , The Truman Research Institute, and The Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation. This conference took place January 4-8, 1983, at the seat of the Wemer-Reimer Stiftung at Bad Homburg. The purpose of this conference was to explore in a systematic way the origins of Axial Age civilizations and their diversity, and especially the general conditions under which these breakthroughs developed or which have facilitated such developments, as well as the different constellations of conditions which account for the specific characteristics of each of these civilizations. The papers and discussions dealt with five closely connected problems , which shared a common denominator. This denominator was the search for the condition of the institutionalization of the transcendental visions which characterize the Axial Age civilizations, and for the specification of the nature and direction and institutional implications of these visions. Thus, first of all, the conference dealt with the structural-historical conditions of the emergence of these civilizations. Second, the conference dealt with the analysis of the diversity of the major Axial Age civilizations, of how the differences in the major characteristics of these civilizations-above all the differences in the basic cultural orientations of these civilizations and in the structure of their elites-can be explained or related to the differences in the constellation of these conditions. These problems were discussed on the basis of analysis of specific patterns of such breakthroughs and their institutionalization in AnXI xu PREFACE cient Greece, Ancient Israel, China, and Brahmin India and of the later developments in Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. For comparative purposes, one civilization, Assyria, was analyzed in which-despite seemingly favorable conditions-such breakthrough to transcendence did not take place. Third, attention was given to the nature of the transformation of modes of thought and symbolism attendant on the development and institutionalization of the basic conceptions of tension between transcendental and mundane orders-both in primary and secondary breakthroughs-especially on the transformation ofmythical thought, symbolism, and ritual and of second-order thought. Fourth, emphasis was laid on some of the major institutional repercussions of the institutionalization of the perception of tension between transcendental and mundane orders-especially on the tension between rulers and other elites, the development of heterodoxies, and the importance of all these for the dynamics of these civilizations. Fifth, emphasis was laid on the problem or question of what may be called the "secondary breakthroughs," which had developed already within the framework of the first Axial Age civilizations-i.e., above all of Second Temple Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam, as well as possibly Nee-Confucianism. The major difference between these and the primary breakthroughs lies in their having evolved as part of the process of confrontation between on the one hand the ruling "orthodoxies" and coalitions-which included already the new types of cultural elites-and on the other hand various heterodoxies and sectarian movements that developed within them. Also discussed was in what ways the combination of the various structural factors mentioned above, together with the structure of the confrontation between "orthodoxy" and "heterodoxy," have shaped the emergence and institutionalization of these secondary breakthroughs, and their specific characteristics in the symbolic and institutional realms alike. The original papers were revised by the authors in light of the discussions at the conference. This series of conferences is closely connected with the interdisciplinary seminars on comparative civilizations which have been taking place at the Department ofSociology and the Truman Research Institute, in cooperation with other organizations, for about the last fifteen years, as well as other international conferences and workshops many of which were published in the form of books.• I would like to thank the three sponsoring institutions for their support, which made possible the convening of the Conference and the publication of this volume: the Truman Institute of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation and Pref ace xiii the Werner-Reimer Foundation whose kind hospitality at Bad Homburg , greatly contributed to the success of the conference. I also would like to thank Ms. Esther Shasha'r of The Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation for help in the preparation of the volume for publication, and Mr. Moshe Levi for his help in the preparation and typing of the manuscript. Jerusalem, September 1984...