Classic features of the eastern type of civilization

1. Cyclicity (“turns”) of the progressive development of philosophy, science, culture and art;
2. Slower pace of social change;
3. Specific ideas about historical time: a person simultaneously existed in the past, present and future, because the immortal soul changes the form of existence;
4. A special concept of ancestors: deceased ancestors (past) existed in a different form in the present. The unborn offspring (future) exist in a different form in the present;
5. Canonization of traditions and experience of generations as the highest social value;
6. Paternalism – the unquestionably high authority of the older generation, the absence of the problem of “fathers and children”;
The good life unfolds in the “five inherent human relationships”: ruler-civil servant, father-son, husband-wife, old-young, friend-friend.
7. Charismatic nature of mentality, in which the perception of reality occurs through:
– sensory experience (hear, feel, see),
– belief in divine powers, gods are part of living nature, actively participate in human life, and man influences the gods;
8. Slow pace of change in Eastern societies;
9. The purpose of society’s existence is movement towards the highest divine ideal;
10. The main value of human existence is the comprehension of the highest sacred (sacred, secret) meaning, and not the realization of its specific goals;
11. The prevalence of the principle of collectivism, the subordination of the interests of the individual to the goals of the community;
12. Development of a special vertical type of social ties within the framework of eastern despotism, based on:
– unlimited power of the ruler, the deification of earthly rulers, “possessing” supernatural power;
– impersonality of the state machine
– complete dependence of a person on bureaucracy,
– lack of value of a person’s personality,
– exclusion of personal initiative and responsibility of a person;
13. Virtually no horizontal links between communities.