ABSTRACT
Human history, which for the first time is known to us at least in general outline, has now reached some kind of crucial culmination. There are those who see this as an end to history. This chapter examines what can be called the material dimensions of human development and outlines the quite distinct cultural dimensions. It seeks to relate the two in the course of criticizing one-sided presentations, usually only focusing on the material side, that some well-known authors have advocated. A preliminary sketch of the historical development of humanity is presented based on six major turning points, which yield six more or less coherent and stable historical stages of social life: paleolithic, neolithic, civilizational, post-Axial, Modern, and post-civilizational. On the other side of human development are the cultural changes that take place in parallel with the material and organizational changes. These qualitative changes can occur very abruptly at the crucial turning points.
