The Strain of Civilization II

"In order to understand Plato we must visualize the whole contemporary situation. After the Peloponnesian war, the strain of civilization was felt as strongly as ever. The old oligarchic hopes were still alive, and the defeat of Athens had even tended to encourage them. The class struggle continued. Yet Critias’ attempt to destroy democracy by carrying out the programme of the Old Oligarch had failed. It had not failed through lack of determination; the most ruthless use of violence had been unsuccessful, in spite of favourable circumstances in the shape of powerful support from victorious Sparta. Plato felt that a complete reconstruction of the programme was needed. The Thirty had been beaten in the realm of power politics largely because they had offended the citizens’ sense of justice. The defeat had been largely a moral defeat. The faith of the Great Generation had proved its strength. The Thirty had nothing of this kind to offer; they were moral nihilists. The programme of the Old Oligarch, Plato felt, could not be revived without basing it upon another faith, upon a persuasion which re-affirmed the old values of tribalism, opposing them to the faith of the open society. Men must be taught that justice is inequality, and that the tribe, the collective, stands higher than the individual." Karl Popper [1945], Ch. 10, Section IV

"This dream of unity and beauty and perfection, this aestheticism and holism and collectivism, is the product as well as the symptom of the lost group spirit of tribalism. It is the expression of, and an ardent appeal to, the sentiments of those who suffer from the strain of civilization. (It is part of the strain that we are becoming more and more painfully aware of the gross imperfections in our life, of personal as well as of institutional imperfection; of avoidable suffering, of waste and of unnecessary ugliness; and at the same time of the fact that it is not impossible for us to do something about all this, but that such improvements would be just as hard to achieve as they are important. This awareness increases the strain of personal responsibility, of carrying the cross of being human.)" Karl Popper [1945], Chapter 10, Section IV

"I suppose that what I call the ‘strain of civilization’ is similar to the phenomenon which Freud had in mind when writing Civilization and its Discontents. Toynbee speaks of a Sense of Drift (A Study of History, V, 412 ff.), but he confines it to ‘ages of disintegration’, while I find my strain very clearly expressed in Heraclitus (in fact, traces can be found in Hesiod)—long before the time when, according to Toynbee, his ‘Hellenic society’ begins to ‘disintegrate’. Meyer speaks of the disappearance of ‘The status of birth, which had determined every man’s place in life, his civil and social rights and duties, together with the security of earning his living’ (Geschichte des Altertums, III, 542). This gives an apt description of the strain in Greek society of the fifth century B.C." Karl Popper, [1945], footnote 8 to Chapter 10.

The Strain of Civilization I

"The breakdown of tribalism, of the closed societies of Greece, may be traced back to the time when population growth began to make itself felt among the ruling class of landed proprietors. This meant the end of ‘organic’ tribalism. For it created social tension within the closed society of the ruling class. At first, there appeared to be something like an ‘organic’ solution of this problem, the creation of daughter cities. (The ‘organic’ character of this solution was underlined by the magical procedures followed in the sending out of colonists.) But this ritual of colonization only postponed the breakdown. It even created new danger spots wherever it led to cultural contacts; and these, in turn, created what was perhaps the worst danger to the closed society—commerce, and a new class engaged in trade and seafaring. By the sixth century B.C., this development had led to the partial dissolution of the old ways of life, and even to a series of political revolutions and reactions. And it had led not only to attempts to retain and to arrest tribalism by force, as in Sparta, but also to that great spiritual revolution, the invention of critical discussion, and, in consequence, of thought that was free from magical obsessions. At the same time we find the first symptoms of a new uneasiness. The strain of civilization was beginning to be felt.

This strain, this uneasiness, is a consequence of the breakdown of the closed society. It is still felt even in our day, especially in times of social change. It is the strain created by the effort which life in an open and partially abstract society continually demands from us—by the endeavour to be rational, to forgo at least some of our emotional social needs, to look after ourselves, and to accept responsibilities. We must, I believe, bear this strain as the price to be paid for every increase in knowledge, in reasonableness, in co-operation and in mutual help, and consequently in our chances of survival, and in the size of the population. It is the price we have to pay for being human. The strain is most closely related to the problem of the tension between the classes which is raised for the first time by the breakdown of the closed society. The closed society itself does not know this problem. At least to its ruling members, slavery, caste, and class rule are ‘natural’ in the sense of being unquestionable. But with the breakdown of the closed society, this certainty disappears, and with it all feeling of security. The tribal community (and later the ‘city’) is the place of security for the member of the tribe. Surrounded by enemies and by dangerous or even hostile magical forces, he experiences the tribal community as a child experiences his family and his home, in which he plays his definite part; a part he knows well, and plays well. The breakdown of the closed society, raising as it does the problems of class and other problems of social status, must have had the same effect upon the citizens as a serious family quarrel and the breaking up of the family home is liable to have on children. Of course, this kind of strain was felt by the privileged classes, now that they were threatened, more strongly than by those who had formerly been suppressed; but even the latter felt uneasy. They also were frightened by the breakdown of their ‘natural’ world. And though they continued to fight their struggle, they were often reluctant to exploit their victories over their class enemies who were supported by tradition, the status quo, a higher level of education, and a feeling of natural authority. In this light we must try to understand the history of Sparta, which successfully tried to arrest these developments, and of Athens, the leading democracy." Karl Popper [1945], Chapter 10, Section II

Die Last der Zivilisation I

"Der Zusammenbruch der Stammesformen, der geschlossenen Gesellschaftsordnungen Griechenlands, läßt sich bis auf die Zeit zurückverfolgen, in der das Wachstum der Bevölkerung sich in der herrschenden Klasse der Grundbesitzer fühlbar machte. Dies bedeutete das Ende der «organischen» Gebundenheit an den Stamm. Denn damit entstanden soziale Spannungen innerhalb der geschlossenen Gesellschaft der herrschenden Klasse. Zuerst schien es eine gewissermaßen «organische» Lösung dieses Problems zu geben, nämlich durch die Gründung von Tochterstädten. (Der «organische» Charakter dieser Lösung wird durch die magischen Prozeduren unterstrichen, die man bei der Aussendung der Kolonisten einhielt.) Aber dieses Ritual der Kolonisation konnte den Zusammenbruch nur hinausschieben. Es schuf sogar neue Gefahrenzonen, überall dort, wo es zur Berührung mit fremden Kulturen führte. Denn dort entstand die vielleicht größte Gefahr für die geschlossene Gesellschaft, der Handel, sowie eine neue Klasse, die sich mit Handel und Schiffahrt beschäftigte. Im sechsten Jahrhundert v. Chr. hatte diese Entwicklung zur teilweisen Auflösung der alten Lebensformen und sogar zu einer Reihe politischer Revolutionen und Reaktionen geführt. Und sie hatte nicht nur, wie in Sparta, zu Versuchen Anlaß gegeben, die alte Stammesform zu retten und die begonnene Entwicklung gewaltsam zum Stillstand zu bringen, sondern auch zu jener großen geistigen Revolution, zur Erfindung der kritischen Diskussion und damit zu einem Denken, das frei war von der Starrheit magischer Zwangsvorstellungen. Zur gleichen Zeit finden wir die ersten Symptome eines neuen Unbehagens. Die Last der Anforderungen der Zivilisation begann fühlbar zu werden. 

Diese Last, dieses Unbehagen, ist eine Folge des Zusammenbruchs der geschlossenen Gesellschaftsordnung. Sie wird auch heute noch gefühlt (und in Deutschland gerne mit dem Hegelianisch-sentimentalen Namen «Selbstentfremdung des Menschen» belegt). Es ist eine Last, die von allen getragen werden muß, die in einer offenen und teilweise abstrakten Gesellschaft leben und die sich bemühen müssen, vernünftig zu handeln, zumindest einige ihrer emotionalen und natürlichen sozialen Bedürfnisse unbefriedigt zu lassen und für sich und für andere verantwortlich zu sein. Wir müssen, glaube ich, die Last auf uns nehmen, als einen Preis, den wir zahlen müssen für jede neue Erkenntnis, für jeden weiteren Schritt zur Vernunft, zur Zusammenarbeit, zur gegenseitigen Hilfe; für jede Verlängerung des durchschnittlichen Lebensalters; und für jeden Bevölkerungszuwachs. Es ist der Preis für die Humanität." Karl Popper [1945], Kapitel 10, Abschnitt 2