Simple

What Is Civilisation?

This week, with a friend, I discussed something that has been on my mind for a while: what is civilisation? To be more specific, my curiosity centres on what it means when we call someone “civilised” and is that the same as describing civility? Civilised, civility and civilisation all stem from the Latin word civis, meaning citizen.

Define Civilisation?

There is a good comment here in an old reddit post centred on definitions of civilisation: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1eyw2t/comment/ca5i76e/ For a very brief summary, these define a civilisation as:

I think that this is interesting but ultimately we might be able to conclude that there’s no commonly agreed upon definition or at best it’s common culture with unified cities. This doesn’t help me answer my question about what it means to describe someone as civilised.

Define Civilised and Civility?

Why this bothers me

In the 21st century, the developed world likes to imagine itself as having conquered the struggle for survival. I’d (shockingly) go as far as to say, we are beyond survival. It’s considered a compliment to be called civilised by most. But what does this actually mean? What are we striving for? Finally, is this different from civility?

Defaulting to science

The most science thing that first came to mind for me was Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; would a person who has achieved their needs then be civilised? This then led me to Maslow’s Extended Hierarchy of needs which categorises needs 1-4 as the deficiency needs and 5-transcendence as growth needs. I thought that perhaps the top of the pyramid might lead me towards a definition.
The top three are as follows:

  1. Cognitive needs: Knowledge, understanding, curiosity, exploration, and the need for meaning and predictability.
  2. Aesthetic needs: Appreciation of beauty, balance and form.
  3. Self-actualisation needs: Realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth, and peak experiences.

While this extended list is new to me and interesting, I’m unsure if it’s a useful tool for determining civility. These seem inherently about the self, whereas being civilised or exhibiting civility is about one's interaction with the outside world. Perhaps someone who exhibits their cognitive, aesthetic and self-actualised needs as satiated has a higher chance of civility but it doesn’t lead to definition.

Ro’s Definition of Civilised

Adjective

  1. (of a person) exhibiting a nuanced understanding of the cultural environment in which they exist, characterised by a particular care for others in the environment. “The way he discussed the war at dinner was very civilised”

Ro’s Definition of Civility

Noun

  1. (of a person) the quality of acting within a community for the greater good. Using empathy to think about things beyond one’s own sphere.

In Conclusion

To answer my questions

Final Thoughts

Treat others well, be kind and generous. The easy, short term route is often to be selfish but humans are not good at predicting how the kindness or generosity of their immediate actions may affect their future selves.