Moral Revolution

From the Axial Age to the Moral Revolution (Book Review)

Between 800 and 200 BC, there was a change in almost every major civilization on the planet, forever changing societies, and giving birth to the modern man. From Zarathustra in Persia to Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao-Tse in China, the prophets in Israel, King Numa in Rome, and much of early philosophy including Zeno and Socrates. Humans became increasingly interested in speculative thought and longed for transcendence. Religion became increasingly abstract, monotheistic, prophetic and centred around morality.

This is known as the Axial Age, coined by the German philosopher Karl Jaspers in the late 40s. In this book, Eugene Halton tries to restore the rightful owner of the discovery, back to John Stuart Stuart-Glennie in 1873, which he coined the moral revolution.

The books started giving evidence and context for Glennie’s discovery, and then some of his ideas. Most importantly, Panzooinism. Humankind’s primitive conception of the world and how he related to it. The Cosmos is alive, and one is “immersed in the fabric of life”, rather than viewing reality through an individual lens. Other ideas, like the 500-year cycles of history and bioticon, are introduced. Further important thinkers in the Axial revolution are mentioned, like Mumford and Eric Voegelin, and their ideas are explored.

The more the book progress, the more it shifts from Halton’s commentary to his own views. Everything in the book seems to culminate, to some degree, in the last chapter. With some ideas from Robert Bellah’s and D.H. Lawrence, it addressed the problems of modern global civilization. At times, it feels like a denunciation of civilization itself, obsessed with environmentalism, and the increasing mechanical view of the universe. While he claims he isn’t invoking a nostalgic idea of the “noble savage”, he seems to instead invoke an image of the Nobel (even divine) primitive society.

While I disagree with his overall outlook, I found much of his commentary and ideas quite interesting and worth my time. Particularly in how our perception of the world has evolved throughout history and how different ideas got us to our particular culture and worldview. This “macro” historical analysis of consciousness is incredibly difficult but explains large trends in societies over aeons.

Despite liking the content of the book, I do regret buying it. I had just learned the concept of the axial age, and I wanted to read more about it. This is the only good book I seemed to have found that wasn’t gigantic. However, it’s incredibly expensive, having paid 50£ for a book of over a little 100 pages. In addition, it provided an extensive historical context of the idea itself, which wasn’t really my goal, and likely of interest only for historians.

If you’re in a similar situation to mine, Our Axial Age by Augustson, Axial Age and Its Consequences by Bellah, or The Three Axial Ages by Torpey will likely provide the needed background for the Axial Age.

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I also have a philosophy podcast. If you want to check it out look for Anagoge Podcast.

Tiago V.F.