ABSTRACT
It has been shown that the closures of cultural space not only carry the closures of authority of prior social organisation but also closures that function to moderate the threat to authority from personal desires. It is because human desire is almost completely plastic in the face of alterations in the framework of linguistic closure, so much so that even desire essential to the maintenance of life can be abandoned, that the closures of cultural space are so powerful in determining the success or failure of the institutions of society. Closures of authority could in principle be made impregnable if all conflict with individual desire was eradicated. Some cultures have come close to doing this thereby perpetuating the current social hierarchy and organisation, and where this has occurred the relationship between the institutions of state and those of religion and morality are likely to have been important – as in ancient Egypt for example, where the two were effectively merged. Nevertheless, the removal of conflicts in desire is however an impossible goal if for no other reason than the necessary failure of closure always allows for the possibility of conflict. Moreover, and more importantly perhaps, societies are not isolated and can be challenged by the cultural space of other communities.
