ABSTRACT
All phases of culture change. In some cases the change is merely evolution; in some it constitutes progress. In the former case the changes are cumulative; in the latter, they secure greater values. A proper arrangement of culture changes in a time perspective would rectify much social philosophy. Since that has not been achieved, the time perspective may be disregarded, and the data of culture arranged in a perspective of values, based on the significance of culture changes. Does every culture swing like a pendulum from low to high and back again to low, as history indicates was the case with all previous civilizations? If so, in what direction is contemporary civilization moving? We usually assume that Western civilization makes progress, for progress seems fundamental to our culture; but is this assumption correct, or are we on a treadmill of futile repetition? Our scientific achievements, already unparalleled, increase with an acceleration born of genius and application. In all fields knowledge grows. Industry, as represented by both capital and labor, attains organization and power not realized before. Facts of this order touch the imagination and appeal to us as demonstration of progress. But do these really constitute progress, or have we failed to grasp the significance of these culture changes? Bacon assures us that man will rise by conquering nature, and assuredly in recent years man has made marvelous conquests. He now knows the universe more intimately than formerly men knew the earth, or, indeed, their own locality. The stars have become closer acquaintances than were mountain systems or continents to his forebears, for now knowledge as well as imagination encompasses the stellar spaces. The immediate environment he has analyzed with unprecedented thoroughness. He knows much about natural laws and physical bodies, and is familiar with their behavior as entities and as chemical compounds. He knows organism and mind more intimately than did his ancestors. He thinks in social terms and applies new knowledge to social problems. Yet despite these achievements there is reason to pause and inquire whether on the whole he is better off; for in many instances the specious advance is not progress. The simple savage, for example, has no better weapon of offense or defense than an unadorned war club. Some peoples have improved the efficiency of the war club by increasing the weight at one end and by providing protuberances and edges. The war club evolved into spear, then into bow and arrow, and after these came firearms. Firearms have been perfected until a machine gun is more efficient than a host of clubs and bows and arrows.
