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In Defense of Civilization: How Our Past Can Renew Our Present
"The purpose of this book is threefold: to explain what makes civilisation civilization what it is; to show what we are in danger of losing in the event of collapse, and to point the way toward renewal."
There is a consensus in the West that something is wrong. Many people have the uneasy feeling that the liberal democratic order is in danger, and that civilization itself hangs in the balance. This feeling could be dismissed as alarmism, but the present moment of pandemic, political instability, and rioting is a startling reminder of the fragility of civilisation everywhere. And we should never forget that empires and societies have collapsed many times before. But history shows that human civilisation also has extraordinary powers of recuperation, writes Michael R.J. Bonner in this bracing tour de force. Drawing on such examples as the revival of Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire, and the ebb and flow of civilization in China despite repeated foreign conquest, he shows how mankind's quest for clarity, order, and beauty-the crucial elements of civilization-does not necessarily succeed through innovation or a futuristic orientation, but by thoughtful examination and imitation of past experience.
There is a consensus in the West that something is wrong. Many people have the uneasy feeling that the liberal democratic order is in danger, and that civilization itself hangs in the balance. This feeling could be dismissed as alarmism, but the present moment of pandemic, political instability, and rioting is a startling reminder of the fragility of civilisation everywhere. And we should never forget that empires and societies have collapsed many times before. But history shows that human civilisation also has extraordinary powers of recuperation, writes Michael R.J. Bonner in this bracing tour de force. Drawing on such examples as the revival of Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire, and the ebb and flow of civilization in China despite repeated foreign conquest, he shows how mankind's quest for clarity, order, and beauty-the crucial elements of civilization-does not necessarily succeed through innovation or a futuristic orientation, but by thoughtful examination and imitation of past experience.
230 pages, Hardcover
Published April 4, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 4, 2024
This is a very timely read.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Happy Reading, everybody!
I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Happy Reading, everybody!
June 19, 2024
Wherever you are on the political spectrum, it isn’t hard to see something’s amiss in Western Civilization. Hypermaterialism, disintegration of the family unit, social atomization and present day culture wars are a few of these symptoms.
Referring to a wide body of anthropology, theological and historical sources, classicist, historian and political advisor Michael Bonner successfully attempts “to explain what makes civilization what it is; to show what we are in danger of losing in the event of a collapse, and to point the way toward renewal.”
Although the book’s author states his book is meant as a sketch of the big picture, I’d disagree to say it’s more than that. After surveying older civilizations and defining what civilization is, Bonner explains where civilizations went wrong in the past, discusses how they renewed themselves and why beauty, clarity and order are fundamental to civilization.
Bonner notes that civilization has always been fragile; drought, salinization, crop failure, climate change, warfare, civil strife, zoonotic diseases and other troubles, “we are all the more surprised that civilized life managed to pull through at all.”
Like today, but spanning back as far as the Epic of Gilgamesh (2700 BC), Bonner notes “we encounter a certain pessimism about the world’s constant state of flux and vicissitude. Yet we also perceive a delight in the variety of human experience and in the full exercise of all man’s faculties.” Our news media likes to remind us of existential threats like nuclear spillover from the Ukraine conflict or suggest worst case scenarios resulting from the ongoing Gaza conflict.
Bonner takes aim at Rousseau’s Noble Savage idea that there was no war or violence before the appearance of civilization and using examples of mass graves from Palaeolithic and early-Neolithic sites in Jebel Sahaba in Egypt and ‘Talheim Death Pit’ in Germany states. “… the prehistoric homicide rate in what is now Illinois has been estimated at 70 times higher than that of the United States in 1980 and 1,400 times higher than that of 1980s Britain.” Bonner reminds us we can need look no further than the the ancient epic poems of Homer for its lyrical depictions of battle.
“The lineaments of this story are a scheme of ages classified with reference to gold, silver, bronze, and iron; and as the value of the metal decreases, so do the conditions of human life and the moral worth of the people then living.”
By surveying old civilizations in the East and West, Bonner states that “every great civilization has been inspired by the past. Rebirth comes not as the result of random experiments that happened to turn out well, but the deliberate imitation of what had worked before.” IDOC’s chapter on rebirth takes the reader on a tour of antiquity spanning Assyria and Phoenicia, Rome, China, India and Iran. Like China, Singapore’s miraculous transformation involved returning to Confucian values for renewal.
What went wrong? This chapter was quite dense with heavy thinkers, ideologies and philosophy. Certainly all of us have experienced that we are not as socially connected as we once were. Especially before COVID19. Marriage rates and birth rates have been steadily declining. Most institutions have seen participation decline like churches and volunteer groups with the exception of banks and credit card companies.
Social media, postmodernism’s encouraging break with the past, declining civic participation and family formation have all been contributors to the growing social atomization we’re experiencing.
In his chapter on Beauty, Bonner states “architecture, which, more than any other art, is capable of making our lives better and fuller. Buildings not only protect us from the elements, but also facilitate and shape social interaction because we live or work, or conduct other business in them, and are surrounded by them in every human settlement.”
It’s not hard to appreciate the effects of architecture and building maintenance have on our psyche. Look no further than the Broken Windows Theory popularized by New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in the early 1980s where a significant drop in crime and antisocial behaviour was observed by fixing buildings starting with broken windows and unsightly repairs.
The chapter on clarity introduces us several fascinating thinkers like Ibn Taymiyyah and Al-Ghazali, Peter Abelard and but doesn’t lend itself quite as well to the book’s conversation as the others. Bonner treats postmodernism as a failed ideology lacking in clarity and and mentions that postmodernism is the main ideological force behind identity politics. Bonner balances his critique of postmodernism with the outsized disruption and confusion the Trumpian Right creates.
The final chapter on The Future, Bonner isn’t optimistic nor pessimistic that our civilization will see a renewal, but does point the reader to learn from China as an example of culture that’s shedding the notion of pursuing progress at the expense of order and stability. “Western science and technology, he thought might raise everyone’s standard of living, but otherwise the West was crippled by a great spiritual emptiness, for which only China had the cure.” This cure was a return to Confucian values as practiced by their ancestors. Although China has learned a great deal from the West, The West has much to learn from China if it wishes to renew itself like China has done in the past.
I absolutely loved this book but felt the conversation around taxation, the drug epidemic and crime should have found their way into this book.
Recommended for anyone interested in the longview of history, an interest in politics or for the intellectual curious who wish to be exposed to previously unheard of philosophers, theologians and ideas.
Referring to a wide body of anthropology, theological and historical sources, classicist, historian and political advisor Michael Bonner successfully attempts “to explain what makes civilization what it is; to show what we are in danger of losing in the event of a collapse, and to point the way toward renewal.”
Although the book’s author states his book is meant as a sketch of the big picture, I’d disagree to say it’s more than that. After surveying older civilizations and defining what civilization is, Bonner explains where civilizations went wrong in the past, discusses how they renewed themselves and why beauty, clarity and order are fundamental to civilization.
Bonner notes that civilization has always been fragile; drought, salinization, crop failure, climate change, warfare, civil strife, zoonotic diseases and other troubles, “we are all the more surprised that civilized life managed to pull through at all.”
Like today, but spanning back as far as the Epic of Gilgamesh (2700 BC), Bonner notes “we encounter a certain pessimism about the world’s constant state of flux and vicissitude. Yet we also perceive a delight in the variety of human experience and in the full exercise of all man’s faculties.” Our news media likes to remind us of existential threats like nuclear spillover from the Ukraine conflict or suggest worst case scenarios resulting from the ongoing Gaza conflict.
Bonner takes aim at Rousseau’s Noble Savage idea that there was no war or violence before the appearance of civilization and using examples of mass graves from Palaeolithic and early-Neolithic sites in Jebel Sahaba in Egypt and ‘Talheim Death Pit’ in Germany states. “… the prehistoric homicide rate in what is now Illinois has been estimated at 70 times higher than that of the United States in 1980 and 1,400 times higher than that of 1980s Britain.” Bonner reminds us we can need look no further than the the ancient epic poems of Homer for its lyrical depictions of battle.
“The lineaments of this story are a scheme of ages classified with reference to gold, silver, bronze, and iron; and as the value of the metal decreases, so do the conditions of human life and the moral worth of the people then living.”
By surveying old civilizations in the East and West, Bonner states that “every great civilization has been inspired by the past. Rebirth comes not as the result of random experiments that happened to turn out well, but the deliberate imitation of what had worked before.” IDOC’s chapter on rebirth takes the reader on a tour of antiquity spanning Assyria and Phoenicia, Rome, China, India and Iran. Like China, Singapore’s miraculous transformation involved returning to Confucian values for renewal.
What went wrong? This chapter was quite dense with heavy thinkers, ideologies and philosophy. Certainly all of us have experienced that we are not as socially connected as we once were. Especially before COVID19. Marriage rates and birth rates have been steadily declining. Most institutions have seen participation decline like churches and volunteer groups with the exception of banks and credit card companies.
Social media, postmodernism’s encouraging break with the past, declining civic participation and family formation have all been contributors to the growing social atomization we’re experiencing.
In his chapter on Beauty, Bonner states “architecture, which, more than any other art, is capable of making our lives better and fuller. Buildings not only protect us from the elements, but also facilitate and shape social interaction because we live or work, or conduct other business in them, and are surrounded by them in every human settlement.”
It’s not hard to appreciate the effects of architecture and building maintenance have on our psyche. Look no further than the Broken Windows Theory popularized by New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in the early 1980s where a significant drop in crime and antisocial behaviour was observed by fixing buildings starting with broken windows and unsightly repairs.
The chapter on clarity introduces us several fascinating thinkers like Ibn Taymiyyah and Al-Ghazali, Peter Abelard and but doesn’t lend itself quite as well to the book’s conversation as the others. Bonner treats postmodernism as a failed ideology lacking in clarity and and mentions that postmodernism is the main ideological force behind identity politics. Bonner balances his critique of postmodernism with the outsized disruption and confusion the Trumpian Right creates.
The final chapter on The Future, Bonner isn’t optimistic nor pessimistic that our civilization will see a renewal, but does point the reader to learn from China as an example of culture that’s shedding the notion of pursuing progress at the expense of order and stability. “Western science and technology, he thought might raise everyone’s standard of living, but otherwise the West was crippled by a great spiritual emptiness, for which only China had the cure.” This cure was a return to Confucian values as practiced by their ancestors. Although China has learned a great deal from the West, The West has much to learn from China if it wishes to renew itself like China has done in the past.
I absolutely loved this book but felt the conversation around taxation, the drug epidemic and crime should have found their way into this book.
Recommended for anyone interested in the longview of history, an interest in politics or for the intellectual curious who wish to be exposed to previously unheard of philosophers, theologians and ideas.
July 22, 2023
Bonner offers a panoramic view of the world and its civilisations across past centuries, leading all the way up to the present. In his opinion, all (post)modern ills which societies are beset by are a direct result of cutting ties with our collective past and willingness to learn from history. This applies to both sides of the political spectrum and will probably continue to get worse, before it can get better.
November 3, 2023
First of all, the author deserves praise for writing a 200-page book and not filling it with useless pages. Nowadays, many authors don't respect the readers' time and write unnecessarily long books. By the way, this will become even more common with generative AI, as it allows any moron to pretend writing a book.
Regarding the topic of the book, it's a great defense of civilization and it has convinced me that it correctly diagnoses why the West is in decadence: the disconnection with the past.
In my view, symptoms of this in the contemporary far-left are the obsession with race, sexuality and censoring words. Since they hate themselves and their past, they join new cults they can identify with to try (and fail) to be fulfilled, for instance the cult of transgenderism, which forces everyone to participate into their gender fantasies. And if you refuse and defend reality, they persecute you.
In the case of the far-right, they have other cults like the one of Donald Trump, an authoritarian moron who hates democracy and defends dictators like Putin even though he wants to restore the Soviet Union and is constantly threatening the West.
Both groups are delusional, but they are so common that they make those of us that defend objectivity feel crazy.
The solution to post-modern madness is, according to the author, to restore clarity, beauty and order (the 3 characteristics of civilization) based on the things that have worked in the past, such as family, guilds and beautiful architecture, to put some examples from the book.
Another interesting point of the book, is that almost everyone in the West has Christian morals, even if they pretend to hate Christianity.
As for me, I think that the three characteristics can be defined as sub-virtues of the cardinal Virtue of Justice, a core tenet of Stoicism, which is becoming popular as it provides a path to the good life based on reason.
Regarding the topic of the book, it's a great defense of civilization and it has convinced me that it correctly diagnoses why the West is in decadence: the disconnection with the past.
In my view, symptoms of this in the contemporary far-left are the obsession with race, sexuality and censoring words. Since they hate themselves and their past, they join new cults they can identify with to try (and fail) to be fulfilled, for instance the cult of transgenderism, which forces everyone to participate into their gender fantasies. And if you refuse and defend reality, they persecute you.
In the case of the far-right, they have other cults like the one of Donald Trump, an authoritarian moron who hates democracy and defends dictators like Putin even though he wants to restore the Soviet Union and is constantly threatening the West.
Both groups are delusional, but they are so common that they make those of us that defend objectivity feel crazy.
The solution to post-modern madness is, according to the author, to restore clarity, beauty and order (the 3 characteristics of civilization) based on the things that have worked in the past, such as family, guilds and beautiful architecture, to put some examples from the book.
Another interesting point of the book, is that almost everyone in the West has Christian morals, even if they pretend to hate Christianity.
As for me, I think that the three characteristics can be defined as sub-virtues of the cardinal Virtue of Justice, a core tenet of Stoicism, which is becoming popular as it provides a path to the good life based on reason.
February 15, 2024
Another nail in the coffin for a once great western civilization. The Marxist navel gazing, albeit in an impressive survey of contemporary academia, circle’s back to Marxist belief in the end of history. This guy totally reinforces my strong belief that I had dodged the bullet when I was diverted from my path to the university brain washing machine. You can never reverse the ill effects from “a little bit of poison” with bigger doses of the same poison.
MRJB is a secret statist who refuses to recognize that HE is the enemy of civilization as we know it. The world would be a much saner civilization if only the pseudo intellectual elites [university professors] would recognize that a degree is not proof of greater intelligence and gives no right to institute top down rule of the “unwashed masses”. The book completely misses the point that the war of good vs. evil drives mankind to create the good life, the best civilization possible.
Read this book with confidence that you will gain strength in the fight against the destruction of the Western Civilization moral values.
P.S. I now return to my survey of The Book of Absolutes – William D Gairdner (p 45) for a more balanced perspective on our collapsing civilization.
MRJB is a secret statist who refuses to recognize that HE is the enemy of civilization as we know it. The world would be a much saner civilization if only the pseudo intellectual elites [university professors] would recognize that a degree is not proof of greater intelligence and gives no right to institute top down rule of the “unwashed masses”. The book completely misses the point that the war of good vs. evil drives mankind to create the good life, the best civilization possible.
Read this book with confidence that you will gain strength in the fight against the destruction of the Western Civilization moral values.
P.S. I now return to my survey of The Book of Absolutes – William D Gairdner (p 45) for a more balanced perspective on our collapsing civilization.
April 24, 2023
Despite having some strong opinions about the current state of the world, the author brings up some very interesting points in this broad overview of human history. Basically, civilizations have been borrowing ideas from each other since the Bronze Age. From Mesopotamia to Egypt, Greece to Rome, the Islamic Golden Age to the Renaissance, and the current globalized world, we have been repeating the same history over and over again. Nothing can be considered novel anymore, since it probably has been done before. Furthermore, any new ideas likely won't work. Interestingly, the author believes that organized religion is the institution that can stand the test of time because it provides a moral framework for people to live and interact. But with Christianity on the decline, the future of the United States will be determined by how it responds to a growing culture of consumerism, individualism, identity politics, and woke-ism.
January 2, 2024
For quite a few years there I was an absolutist regarding the question of whether or not settled-agrarian civilization is worthy of our modern praise. I had been thoroughly convinced that grain trading societies were entirely irredeemable...
This well cultivated text is much more than essential reading. I have got a feeling that this short book is something of an ideal foundational work. I am very grateful it was written. It's beginning to become more clear for me to see the ways in which a healthy society may walk forward, and how it is we may carry ourselves.
This well cultivated text is much more than essential reading. I have got a feeling that this short book is something of an ideal foundational work. I am very grateful it was written. It's beginning to become more clear for me to see the ways in which a healthy society may walk forward, and how it is we may carry ourselves.
March 20, 2025
An excellent bird’s eye view of what we’re living through today. The author must be commended for not only diagnosing issues (no shortage of that right now) but also his realistic appraisal of our means for revival.
The book holds together nicely, around the gravity of its central premise. The author’s arguments are principled, well-supported, and compelling. This was a powerful rhetorical sweep across a wide expanse of subjects, but no force was lost in its brevity.
Worth reading, and rereading.
The book holds together nicely, around the gravity of its central premise. The author’s arguments are principled, well-supported, and compelling. This was a powerful rhetorical sweep across a wide expanse of subjects, but no force was lost in its brevity.
Worth reading, and rereading.
January 6, 2026
In Defence of Civilization was one of the first books to give shape to the cultural failings I had long been worrying over without a solid foundation to identify or articulate its root causes.
I greatly appreciated the manner in which Bonner articulated where our culture was falling short, while also providing a historical framework to lean upon as we try to rebuild what’s been lost.
I find that so much lately, we are identifying problems in our society without offering any solutions. This book does the opposite. Bonner writes with a clarity we are all starving for.
I greatly appreciated the manner in which Bonner articulated where our culture was falling short, while also providing a historical framework to lean upon as we try to rebuild what’s been lost.
I find that so much lately, we are identifying problems in our society without offering any solutions. This book does the opposite. Bonner writes with a clarity we are all starving for.
September 14, 2023
Civilized and cosmopolitan Canadian Toryism, very good.
September 17, 2023
A practical guide on cultural restoration and societal regeneration. And a terrific synopsis of many important historical events and movements on top of that.
October 2, 2024
Mediocre , a pastiche more of a commentary on what he has read than an originality
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews