that the progression of human history as a struggle between ideologies is largely at an end, with the world settling on liberal democracy after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Fukuyama predicted the eventual global triumph of political and economic liberalism: (a quote from "The End of History and the Last Man")
"What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such;
that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government."
His "end of History" idea got a lot of publicity, although it was formulated already before by Alexandre Kojève, born in 1902 and French statesman after World War II.
His well-known "End of History" thesis advanced the idea that ideological history in a limited sense had ended with the French Revolution and the regime of Napoleon and that there was no longer a need for violent struggle to establish the "rational supremacy of the regime of rights and equal recognition."
The link between Fukuyama and Kojève runs though the American philosopher Allen Bloom, who had been a student of Kojève.
Fukuyama had an empirical argument for his thesis. Since the beginning of the 19th Century, there has been a move for States to adopt some form of liberal democracy as its government.
Philosophically he assumed that based on our rationality we could nothing else than eventually conclude that the roles of master and slave are unsatisfying and self-defeating and that the desire of equality would prevail.
With the end of history Fukuyama did not mean that time had stopped and nothing would happen anymore, but that ideological conflict would have come to an end and that governments would use the framework of parliamentary democracy and economically a system of free markets.
Does this mean that he simply said that the US governmental system would be the final stage of society, its liberalism? Fukuyama was quite clear about this assumption.
"The End of History was never linked to a specifically American model of social or political organization. Following Alexandre Kojève, the Russian-French philosopher who inspired my original argument,
I believe that the European Union more accurately reflects what the world will look like at the end of history than the contemporary United States.
The EU's attempt to transcend sovereignty and traditional power politics by establishing a transnational rule of law is much more in line with a "post-historical" world than the Americans' continuing belief in God, national sovereignty, and their military."
After everything of political philosophy we have seen so far this all sound attractive. Just look at the graphic behind me. I also can add that the democratic peace theory argues that there is statistical evidence that democracy decreases systematic violence such as external and internal wars and conflicts.
But what did Popper say in my lecture two days ago?
History does not evolve in accordance with intrinsic laws or principles, that in the absence of such laws and principles unconditional prediction in the social sciences is an impossibility, and that there is no such thing as historical necessity.
Some ideas cross my mind. Maybe we shouldn't see this "End of History" thesis not as a political development stage, but as an evolutionary result.
And then, Samuel P. Huntington, in his essay and book, "The Clash of Civilizations,"(1996) argues that the temporary conflict between ideologies is being replaced by the ancient conflict between civilizations. The dominant civilization decides the form of human government, and these will not be constant.
In his thesis, he argued that the primary axis of conflict in the future will be along cultural and religious lines. This would mean that history simply continues.
The Discussion
[13:17] herman Bergson: So much on Fukuyama
[13:18] Jerome Ronzales: he wasa clever guy!
[13:18] herman Bergson: If you have any questions or remakrks..go ahead
[13:18] Gemma Cleanslate: interesting
[13:18] Gemma Cleanslate: stil is clever
[13:18] Repose Lionheart: Religion inhabits the blind spot of American academics like Fukuyama...but it is still there. Astonishing that he forgot Islam, which deeply motivates one fifth of our species, and the world's 20,000 other religions.
[13:19] Repose Lionheart: Ideology is alive and well
[13:19] Gemma Cleanslate: well i do not think he did
[13:19] Repose Lionheart: oh
[13:19] herman Bergson: No he is well aware of Islam, I just didnt mention it...
[13:20] Repose Lionheart: hmmmm...seems like a signal lapse, then
[13:20] herman Bergson: Bu tthat relates more to the clash of cultures as our future
[13:20] Repose Lionheart: ok
[13:20] Repose Lionheart: different levels of analysis, i see
[13:20] Repose Lionheart: Agree with what you say about the EU as model, Prof
[13:21] herman Bergson: What I think is more interesting is the idea that this all is not a historical process but an evolutionary process
[13:21] Gemma Cleanslate: every time someone mentions something like that with usa canada mexico almost starts a war
[13:21] herman Bergson: I didnt say that Fukuyama did
[13:21] Jerome Ronzales: maybe he didnt want to islam " religion" joined facts of the same side of the coin..
[13:22] Alaya Kumaki: that is also what i find out this morning.. look ill copy paste
[13:22] Bruce Mowbray thinks: Evolutionary - as in Darwinian?
[13:22] Gemma Cleanslate: all we need is one alien to show up and we will all be a union!
[13:22] herman Bergson: Yes Bruce....
[13:22] Bruce Mowbray: Survival of the fittest...?
[13:22] herman Bergson: No....
[13:23] herman Bergson: more in the sense of the neurobiological development of the organism....
[13:23] Bruce Mowbray: ... of the most capable of adaptation...
[13:23] herman Bergson: At this moment a scientific revolution is going on....
[13:23] Repose Lionheart: interesting....
[13:24] Alaya Kumaki: is it the continuity of what was written as a sense of belonging to something..a project already started
[13:24] Jerome Ronzales: other issues certainly appeared in his mind, why are he narrowing it..
[13:24] herman Bergson: Neurobiology entered the field of philosophy with all its brain scanners
[13:24] Jerome Ronzales: ah
[13:25] herman Bergson: When believing becomes an activity of a defined area of the brain...we can define the reason why people differ on religious views perhaps
[13:25] Jerome Ronzales: agreed
[13:25] herman Bergson: So religion and beliefs as brainfunctions
[13:25] Jerome Ronzales: thought that seem a bit more generalized on his thinking
[13:25] Gemma Cleanslate: hmmmm
[13:26] herman Bergson: This takes Fukuyama's thesis out of history and defines it as a biological, evolutionary result.
[13:26] Repose Lionheart: yes
[13:27] herman Bergson: I am reading on these issues these days ㋡
[13:27] herman Bergson: Really interesting...
[13:27] Gemma Cleanslate: http://fora.tv/2007/06/28/Francis_Fukuyama_End_Of_History_Revisited
[13:27] herman Bergson: Mankind went through 5 revolutions...
[13:28] Jerome Ronzales: this may sound silly, but if his studies reflect a demographical situation why would he recore biological arguments completely new?
[13:28] herman Bergson: the first was the discovery of its place in the universe about 1630 with Copernicus..
[13:28] Gemma Cleanslate: might want to book mark this
[13:28] Repose Lionheart: Thanks, Gemma...
[13:28] Bruce Mowbray thinks: Neurobiology is demonstrating what Buddhist psychology knew hundreds of years ago.
[13:28] Gemma Cleanslate: in his own words
[13:28] Gemma Cleanslate: that is interesting bruce
[13:29] Jerome Ronzales: that would lead to a completely different map! i guess..
[13:29] herman Bergson: Yes Bruce....by ordinairy experience...
[13:29] Jerome Ronzales: maybe not.. (wondering)
[13:29] Alaya Kumaki: maybe groups memories
[13:29] herman Bergson: The neurological developments just show what is there indeed
[13:30] herman Bergson: But mapping the brain leads to all kinds of things
[13:30] Bruce Mowbray thinks: pehnomenology.
[13:30] Bruce Mowbray: pehnomenology.
[13:30] Bruce Mowbray: ok heck.
[13:30] Repose Lionheart: lol
[13:30] herman Bergson: with phenomenology..the American or the German one?
[13:31] Bruce Mowbray: Don't know --- which one works better?
[13:31] Alaya Kumaki: Socrates is best known for the dictum that only the examined life is worth living.
[13:31] Bruce Mowbray: Only the examined neuron is worth thinking about!
[13:31] Alaya Kumaki: can you see a living neuron without opening the box, than he is dead
[13:31] herman Bergson: Well..to get back to Fukuyama....
[13:32] herman Bergson: In fact he says that a kind of liberalism is our end station.....
[13:32] Alaya Kumaki: 0ô
[13:32] herman Bergson: where marx said that total communism would be our end station
[13:32] Jerome Ronzales nods
[13:33] herman Bergson: A big difference...
[13:33] herman Bergson: Who holds the best cards... Fukuyama or Marx ㋡
[13:33] Gemma Cleanslate: :-)
[13:33] Jerome Ronzales: ㋡
[13:34] Jerome Ronzales: one would never tell...
[13:34] Repose Lionheart: Well, Marx wrote 150 years ago ㋡
[13:34] herman Bergson: If nobody..so in fact everybody actually owns the earth...?
[13:34] Jerome Ronzales: so the fighting could take its place!
[13:34] Repose Lionheart: You'd expect Fukuyama to seem to make more sense
[13:34] Repose Lionheart: for now
[13:35] herman Bergson: Well...when you look at the changes..the other graphic...
[13:35] Jerome Ronzales: a posteriori, yes!
[13:35] herman Bergson: That green line is a factual observation through history
[13:35] Repose Lionheart: It does seem that Fukuyama has adduced a lot of data to support his position, yes, Suir
[13:35] Repose Lionheart: Sir*
[13:36] Bruce Mowbray thinks: I suspect that Christians in the Middle Ages thought that feudalism was the "end station."
[13:36] herman Bergson: Oh yes...and one criticism is that he also left out a lot of data that didnt fit his thoery
[13:36] Repose Lionheart: I sill have an uncomfortable feeling that both Marx and Fukuyama write themselves large across history
[13:36] Repose Lionheart: still*
[13:36] herman Bergson: Well...there is one amazing fact...
[13:37] herman Bergson: in 1795 Immanual Kant wrote "Zum ewigen Friede"
[13:37] herman Bergson: Perpetual Peace...
[13:37] Repose Lionheart: ohhhhh
[13:37] herman Bergson: And he gives a few rules to get there...
[13:38] herman Bergson: One is that all states should be republics....with a system of representation of the people
[13:38] herman Bergson: He wasnt that far that he could imagine suffrage, a voting system like we know...
[13:39] herman Bergson: But his idea is the same as the idea that democracies prevent risky behavior...make starting a war more difficult
[13:39] Repose Lionheart: yes...very interesting
[13:40] herman Bergson: and in the democratic areas of this world war is very exceptional...
[13:40] herman Bergson: Germany and France will probably never go to war again against eachother
[13:41] herman Bergson: tho the conflict has deep historical roots
[13:41] herman Bergson: Tho history may not develop according laws, as Popper say...
[13:41] herman Bergson: mankind may yet develop acoording evolutionary lines
[13:42] Repose Lionheart: yes ㋡
[13:42] Repose Lionheart: a happy thought
[13:42] herman Bergson: So in spite of all negative thinking...
[13:42] herman Bergson: are there indications that there yet is a positive development....
[13:42] Jerome Ronzales: after the massive capitalism, its not a easy task!
[13:43] herman Bergson: No Jerome....
[13:43] Jerome Ronzales: yes, i thought so
[13:43] herman Bergson: Environmentalists even say....very nice this liberalism...but it destroys the earth by depleting its resources..
[13:43] Jerome Ronzales: i have massive headache...
[13:43] Jerome Ronzales: also..
[13:44] herman Bergson: Doesnt sound good Jerome...
[13:44] Jerome Ronzales: it isnt
[13:44] herman Bergson: I hope I wasnt too demanding on your brain
[13:44] Bruce Mowbray: Nothing is permanent: no "end station."
[13:44] Repose Lionheart: seems true to me
[13:44] Jerome Ronzales: fair enought
[13:44] herman Bergson: No Bruce...I agree...
[13:45] herman Bergson: because what argument is there to say...we have reahed it now almost
[13:45] herman Bergson: reached
[13:45] Bruce Mowbray: When Qwark's Hadron Collider blows up France. . . .
[13:45] Repose Lionheart: lol!
[13:45] Bruce Mowbray: no one will go to war with France, ever again.
[13:45] Abraxas Nagy: ╔╗╔═╦╗
[13:45] Abraxas Nagy: ║╚╣║║╚╗
[13:45] Abraxas Nagy: ╚═╩═╩═╝
[13:46] herman Bergson: And you are sound and save in Ohio..Bruce ^_^
[13:46] Bruce Mowbray: hardly!!!
[13:46] Bruce Mowbray: We have TORNADOES!!
[13:46] Abraxas Nagy: wow yes
[13:46] Repose Lionheart: and floods
[13:46] Bruce Mowbray: big floods.
[13:46] Jerome Ronzales: now?
[13:46] Bruce Mowbray: and lots and lots of Republicans.
[13:46] Repose Lionheart: LOL!!!!
[13:46] Abraxas Nagy: AH HAHAHAHA
[13:46] herman Bergson smiles
[13:46] Gemma Cleanslate: LOL
[13:47] Abraxas Nagy: cant you flush them from the system?
[13:47] Bruce Mowbray: worse than tornadoes and floods.
[13:47] herman Bergson: Ok....thanks for the weathervforecast Bruce ㋡
[13:47] Repose Lionheart: you are beset, bruce!
[13:47] Bruce Mowbray: indeed.
[13:47] Gemma Cleanslate: ▓▒░ ♪♫♩ ॐ ॐ ॐ ((-: QWARK :-)) ॐ ॐ ॐ ♪♫♩ ▓▒░
[13:47] Gemma Cleanslate: that is bejiitas collider not lol
[13:47] Abraxas Nagy: yep
[13:47] herman Bergson: Ok...
[13:47] Repose Lionheart: true
[13:47] herman Bergson: gemma gave us an interestin glike I guess...
[13:47] Repose Lionheart: yes!
[13:47] herman Bergson: Studying that may be your home work for this weekend
[13:48] Abraxas Nagy: ah good
[13:48] Gemma Cleanslate: yes it ihas many appeareneces
[13:48] Gemma Cleanslate: lo ok
[13:48] herman Bergson: May I thank you all for your participation again...
[13:48] Repose Lionheart: kk ㋡
[13:48] Gemma Cleanslate: will be nice to hear the person
[13:48] Gemma Cleanslate: ♥ Thank Youuuuuuuuuu!! ♥
[13:48] Gemma Cleanslate: for class
[13:48] Abraxas Nagy: thank YOU again herman
[13:48] Repose Lionheart: Thank you, Professor
[13:48] herman Bergson: Class Dismissed ㋡
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