Bulletin N° 615
Subject: ON DEVOLUTION AND EVOLUTION AND THE POLITICS
OF HOMEOSTASIS.
12 June 2014
Grenoble, France
Dear
Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,
The
Medieval philosopher and statesman Ibn Khaldûn (d.1406), a contemporary of western world-class
authors like “the Father of English literature” Geoffrey Chaucer (d.
1400) and the famous Renaissance humanist Giovanni Boccaccio (d. 1375), himself
enjoys international stature and is often credited with having laid the
foundations of several fields of knowledge, including the science of history,
linguistics, sociology, ethnography, and economics. This Late-Medieval scholar,
born in Tunisia, was a world traveler and an astute observer of the many
societies he visited. Trained in jurisprudence and literary studies, he applied
his critical mind to all that he saw and made some unusual discoveries which he
recorded during the second half of his long life in a multi-volume book,
entitled Al-Muqaddima, An Introduction to History (1377). Khaldûn introduces Book One of this research with some
“preliminary remarks” which demonstrate the quality of his thinking. “It should
be known,” he wrote,
that
history, in matter of fact, is information about human social organization,
which itself is identical with world civilization. It deals with such
conditions affecting the nature of civilization as, for instance, savagery and
sociability, group feelings, and the different ways by which one group of human
beings achieves superiority over another. It deals with royal authority and the
dynasties that result in this manner and with the various ranks that exist
within them. Also with the different kinds of gainful occupations and ways of
making a living, with the sciences and crafts that human beings pursue as part
of their activities and efforts, and with all the other institutions that
originate in civilization through its very nature.
Untruth
naturally afflicts historical information. There are various reasons that make
this unavoidable. One of them is partisanship for opinions and schools. If the
soul is impartial in receiving information, it devotes to that information the
share of critical investigation the information deserves, and its truth or
untruth thus becomes clear. However, if the soul is infected with partisanship
for a particular opinion or sect, it accepts without a moment’s hesitation the
information that is agreeable to it. Prejudice and partisanship obscure the
critical faculty and preclude critical investigation. The result is that
falsehoods are accepted and transmitted.
Another
reason making untruth unavoidable in historical information is reliance upon
transmitters. Investigation of this subject belongs to (the discipline) of
personality criticism.
Another
reason is unawareness of the purpose of an event. Many a transmitter does not
know the real significance of his observations or of the things he has learned
about orally. He transmits the information, attributing to it the significance
he assumes or imagines it to have. The result is falsehood.
Another
reason is unfounded assumption as to the truth of a thing. This is frequent. It
results mostly from reliance upon transmitters.
Another
reason is ignorance of how conditions conform with
reality. Conditions are affected by ambiguities and artificial distortions The informant reports the conditions as he saw them, but on
account of artificial distortions he himself has no true picture of them.
Another
reason is the fact that people as a rule approach great and high-ranking
persons with praise and encomiums. They embellish conditions and spread their
fame. The information made public in such cases is not truthful. Human souls
long for praise, and people pay great attention to
this world and the positions and wealth it offers. As a rule, they feel no
desire for virtue and have no special interest in virtuous people.
Another
reason making untruth unavoidable –and this one is more powerful than all the reasons
previously mentioned—is ignorance of the nature of the various conditions
arising in civilization. Every event (or phenomenon), whether (it comes about
in connection with some) essence or (the result of)
action, must inevitably possess a nature peculiar to its essence, as well as to
the accidental conditions that may attach themselves to it. If the student
knows the nature of events and the circumstances and requirements in the world
of existence, it will help him to distinguish truth from untruth in
investigating the historical information critically. This is more effective in
critical investigation than any other aspect that may be brought up in
connection with it.
Students
often happen to accept and transmit absurd information that, in turn, is believed
on their authority. . . . (The
Muqaddimah,
Khaldûn then produced a
series of examples of the ‘complacent’ acceptance of obvious errors due to one
or more of the reasons he has listed. He goes on to describe what is new and
different in this “new science” of historical study that he has discovered.
It should be known that the discussion
of this topic is something new, extraordinary, and highly useful. Penetrating
research has shown the way to it. It does not belong to rhetoric, one of the
logical disciplines (represented in Aristotle’s Organon),
which are concerned with convincing words whereby the mass is moved to accept
or reject a particular opinion. It is also not politics, because politics is
concerned with the administration of home or city in accordance with ethical
and philosophical requirements, for the purpose of directing the mass toward a
behavior that will result in the preservation and permanence of the species.
The
subject here is different from those two discipline
which, however, are often similar to it. In a way, it is an entirely original
science. In fact, I have not come across
a discussion along these lines by anyone.
. . .
Although
the problems it raises are important, both essentially and specifically,
(exclusive concern for it) leads to one result only: the mere verification of
historical information. This is not much. Therefore, scholars might have
avoided the subject. (p.39)
Khaldûn’s prescience of
disciplines that would not be established until centuries later is shown in his
meticulous concern with a methodological contextual question, “whether it was
possible that the (reported facts) could have happened.” This question, he
asserts,
is
more important than, and has priority over, personality criticism. For the
correct notion about something that ought to be can be derived only form
(personality criticism), while the correct notion about something that was can
be derived from (personality criticism) and external (evidence) by (checking)
the conformity (of the historical report with general conditions).
If this is so, the normative method
for distinguishing right from wrong in historical information on the grounds of
inherent possibility or absurdity is to investigate human social organization,
which is identical with civilization. We must distinguish the conditions that
attach themselves to the essence of civilization as requir3ed by its very
nature; the things that are accidental and cannot be counted on; and the things
that cannot possibly attach themselves to it. If we do that, we shall have a
normative method for distinguishing right from wrong, and truth form falsehood
in historical information by means of logical demonstration that admits to no
doubts. Then, whenever we hear about certain conditions occurring in civilization,
we shall know what it accept and what to declare
spurious. We shall have a sound yardstick with the help of which historians may
find a path to truth and correctness where their reports are concerned
.
Such is the purpose of this first book
of our work. (The subject) is in a way an independent science with its own
peculiar object –the is, human civilization and social
organization. It also has its own peculiar problems –that is, explaining in
turn the conditions that attach themselves to the essence of civilization. (pp.38-39)
Khaldûn made a
contribution not only to the method of objective historical study, but to the
modern study of sociology. In a section called “The various ways, means and
methods of making a living,” he begins by defining his terms: ‘livelihood’, he
wrote, “means the desire for sustenance and the effort to obtain it”; he then proceeds to develope a preliminary
discourse on a labor theory of value.
Sustenance
and profit may be obtained through having the power to take them away from
others and to appropriate them according to a generally recognized norm. This
is called imposts and taxation. Or from wild animals by
killing or catching them whole on land or in the sea. Or either from
domesticated animals by extracting surplus products which are used by people,
such as mild from animals, silk from silkworms, and honey from bees; or from
plants such as are planted in fields or grow as trees, through cultivating and
preparing them for the production of their fruits. All this is called agriculture.
Or profit may be the result of human
labor as applied to specific materials. Then it is called a craft, such as
writing, carpentry, tailoring, weaving, and horsemanship. Or it may be applied
to non-specific materials. This, then, includes all the other professions and
activities.
Or profit may come from merchandise
and its use in barter; merchants can make such profit either by travelling
around with (merchandise) or by hoarding it and observing the market
fluctuations that affect it. This is called commerce.
Agriculture is prior to all the other
(ways of making a living) by its very nature, since it is something simple and
innately natural. It needs no speculation or theoretical) knowledge. Therefore,
(invention) of it is ascribed to Adam, the father of mankind. He is said to
have taught and practiced agriculture.
The crafts are secondary and posterior
to agriculture. They are composite and scientific. Thinking and speculation are
applied to them. Therefore, as a rule, crafts exist only among sedentary
peoples. (Sedentary culture) is posterior to Bedouin life, and secondary to it.
Commerce is a natural way of making
profits. However, most of its practices and methods are tricky and designed to
obtain the (profit) margin between purchase prices and sale prices. This
surplus makes it possible to earn a profit. Therefore, the law permits cunning
in commerce, since (commerce) contains an element of gambling. It does not,
however, mean taking away the property of others without giving anything in
return. Therefore, it is legal.(pp.299-300)
This
section is followed in the same chapter with a discussion on “Being a servant …
[as] not a natural way of making a living.” Here Khaldûn
observed that “custom causes human nature to incline toward the things to which
it becomes used. Man is the child of customs, not the child of his ancestors.”
…
satisfactory and trustworthy servants are almost
non-existent. There are just four categories according to which a servant of
this (description) can be classified. He may be capable of doing what he has to
do, and trustworthy with regard to the things that come into his hands. Or, he
may be the opposite in both respects, that is, he may be neither capable nor
trustworthy. Or, he may be the opposite in one respect only, that is, he may be
capable and not trustworthy, or trustworthy and not capable.
As to the first, the capable and
trustworthy servant, on one would in any way be able to secure the employment
of such a person. With his capability and trustworthiness, he would have no
need of persons of low rank, and he would distain to accept the wages (they
could) offer for service, because he could get more. . . .
The second kind, the servant who is
neither capable nor trustworthy, should not be employed by any intelligent
person, because he will do damage to his master on both counts.
No one would employ these two kinds of servants. Thus, the only thing that
remains is to employ servants of the two other kinds, servants who are
trustworthy but not capable, and servants who are capable but not trustworthy.
There are two opinions among the people as to which of the two kinds is
preferable. Each has something in his favor. However, the capable (servant),
even when he is not trustworthy, is preferable. One can be sure that he will
not cause any damage, and one can arrange to be on guard as far as possible
against being defrauded by him. (The servant) who may cause damage, even when
he is reliable, is more harmful than useful, because of the damage caused by him. This should be realized and taken as the norm for
finding satisfactory servants.(pp.300-301)
It
is of only fleeting interest to hear Khaldûn express
some medieval prejudices, for example towards gays, women, Black Africans, Salvs and other “imperfect” beings. Given the unequal rapports de force and the imbalances of
military power in his day, these prejudices were largely accepted as axiomatic
truths, which even Khaldûn was unable to transcend.
As a whole, however, we find in this work a remarkable power of perception,
largely unhindered by ideological a
priories and contrived speech, which constitute conventional veils (or
stumbling blocks) through which modern man attempts to discover the world and
come to terms with what stands before him. His capacity to reason independently,
unaffected by the received ideas of his day, was remarkable, and his close
attention to empirical evidence and mental representations can only be judged
as a harbinger of modern social science, for better and for worse, which was
published more than five centuries before the studies of Max Weber, Sigmund
Freud, and Emile Durkheim.
The
8 items below offer CEIMSA readers a voyage through the contemporary
world, where distortions and misrepresentations are plentiful. In the spirit of
Khaldûn, we invite you to submit your soul to these
perceptions of these events and remain conscious that your soul can only be
colored by these perceptions. As we begin to differentiate from one another,
according to the external influences upon our lives, we would do well to
remember that we are all made of the same stuff, and that in Ibn Khaldûn’s memorable words,
“When the soul has been impressed by a habit, it is no longer in its natural
state, and it is less prepared (to master another habit), because it has taken
on a certain imprint from that habit.” (p.318)
Perception
–that is, consciousness on the part of the person who perceives—is something
particular to living beings to the exclusion of all other possible and existent
things. Living beings may obtain consciousness of things that are outside their
essence through the external senses . . ., that is, the sense of hearing,
vision, smell, taste, and touch. Man has this advantage over other beings: he
can perceive things outside his essence through his ability to think, which is something beyond his senses. It is the result of
(special) powers placed in the cavities of his brain. With the help of these
powers, man takes the pictures of the sensibilia,
applies his mind to them, and thus abstracts from them other pictures. The
ability to think is the occupation with pictures that are beyond sense
perception, and the application of the mind to them for analysis and synthesis.(p.333)
We
hereby invite you to use this unique human endowment to discern the world you
have inherited, to make it a better place to live.
Item
A.,
from Consortium
News, is an article on US strategy in Ukraine and how it failed.
Item
B.,
from Information Clearing House,
is a new series of articles on Ukraine.
Item
C.,
from Information Clearing House,
is an article and video on the Maidan snipers on
April 10, 2014 in Kiev.
Item
D.,
from Information Clearing House,
is an article first published by Russian
Television on the censorship of Edward
Snowden by NBC Television.
Item
E.,
from Information Clearing House,
is a video broadcast with Noam Chomsky discussing current episodes of US
foreign policy.
Item
F.,
from the London Financial Times, is an article by Philip
Stephens on Russia and China’s roles in the international system of
capitalism.
Item
G., from Jim O’Brien of Historians Against War,
is a series of recommended recent articles.
Item
H., from Jim O’Brien of Historians Against War,
is a series of recommended recent articles.
And
finally, we invite CEIMSA readers to take a look at Wiebe and Binney
and “Why They Blew the Whistle on the NSA” :
The Fallacies of For-Profit Spying in the Modern
World
Sincerely,
Francis
Feeley
Professor
of American Studies
University
of Grenoble-3
Director
of Research
University
of Paris-Nanterre
Center
for the Advanced Study of American Institutions and Social Movements
The
University of California-San Diego
http://dimension.ucsd.edu/CEIMSA-IN-EXILE/
_______________
A.
From Consortium News :
Dates: 24 May 2014
Subject : The US-Ukraine Fiasco.
The State Department’s handling of the Ukraine crisis may go
down as a textbook diplomatic fiasco, doing nothing to advance genuine
U.S. interests while disrupting cooperation with Moscow and pushing Russia
and China back together, reports Robert Parry.
The
State Department’s Ukraine Fiasco
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/05/24/the-state-departments-ukraine-fiasco/
_______________
B.
From Russian Television :
Dates: 24 May 2014
Subject : The US-Ukraine Fiasco.
UKRAINe : April 2014
http://www.inetpost.mobi/tags/ukraine/article/2014060606132c.ukraine-says-15-rebels-killed-border
_______________
C.
From Information
Clearing House :
Dates: 5 June 2014
Subject : Who were the Maidan snipers on April 10, 2014?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
National guard/right sector entered Railroad Hospital Krasni Liman and shot dead 37 wounded Donbas Army soldiers and civilians.
Ukraine Combat Situation Report - June
5th
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article38713.htm
by Juan
_______________
D.
From Information Clearing
House :
Dates: 19 May 2014
Subject : Snowden report on NBC censored.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
The former National Security Agency contractor in which he questioned the American intelligence community’s inability to stop the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Read Snowden’s
Comments On 9/11 That NBC Didn’t Broadcast
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article38656.htm
by RT
_______________
E.
From Information
Clearing House :
Dates: 19 May 2014
Subject : Chomsky of Current US Foreign Polciy.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
"Rethinking US Foreign Policy"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article38661.htm
By Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky, shares his views on the Edward Snowden revelations, recent
debates on intervention and broader themes in US foreign policy. Continue
_______________
F.
From Financial Times :
Dates: 6 June 2014
Subject : Russia and China
“playing” in the International Capitalist System.
The FT's Philip Stephens, in an essay published yesterday, claim that Xi & Putin are "contesting the established world order. " This is an increasingly common take on Russia and China's aggressive approach to their respective border disputes (Crimea, the South China Sea, Senkaku/Diaoyutai, etc.). But I think it's folly and the height of arrogance to portray the US's disagrements with Russia and China as one of a disagreement about the basic rules of the international system.
What Xi And Putin Think About The West
http://chinatrack.typepad.com/blog/
by Philip
Stephens
&
Putin
& Xi challenging the world order: Not.
_______________
G.
From Historians
Against the War :
Dates: 3 June 2014
Subject : HAW Notes 6/3/14: Links to recent articles of interest.
http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/
Links to Recent Articles of Interest
"Oh No, Not Again! The Pentagon's Plan to Train Up and Coming Leaders in Countries Facing Threats"
By William R. Polk, History News Network, posted June 1
The author is a former member of the U.S. Policy Planning Council
and history professor at the University of Chicago. This important article lays
out pas experiences with U.S. training programs.
"Mr. Kerry: Why Snowden Can't 'Make His Case' in 'Our
System of Justice'"
By Juan Cole, Informed Comment blog, posted May 30
The author teaches history at the University of Michigan.
"What's
Next? The Ukrainian Crisis 2.0"
By Walter G. Moss, History News Network, posted May 28
The author is a professor of history emeritus at Eastern Michigan
University.
By Phyllis Bennis, Foreign Policy
in Focus, posted May 28
A short and thoughtful analysis
"Gabriel Kolko's
Contribution"
By Andrew Hartman, Society for U.S. Intellectual History
blog, posted May 27
This piece is an appreciation of Gabriel Kolko
(who died May 19 at age 82), with emphasis on his foreign policy
writings. The author teaches history at Illinois State University.
"Why
the Second World War Never Ended for Ukraine"
By Juliane Fuerst,
History News Network, posted May 25
The author teaches history at the University of Bristol.
"Ukraine
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Is There a Way Out?"
By Joanne Landy, Campaign for
Peace and Democracy, posted May 20
"Why
the Revival of Nationalist Myths in Ukraine Should Alarm Us"
By Tarik Cyril Amar and Per Anders Rudling, History
News Network, posted May 19
The authors teach history at Columbia University and the
University of Lund, respectively.
"The Myth of America's Peacekeeping Past"
By Leon Hadar, The
American Conservative, posted May 14
________________
Thanks to Steve Gosch (who has become a de facto co-editor of these lists)
and Rosalyn Baxandall for suggesting articles
included in the above list. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.
_______________
H.
From Historians
Against the War :
Dates: 10 June 2014
Subject : HAW Notes 6/10/14: Links to recent articles of interest.
http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/
Links to Recent Articles of Interest
"Don't Walk Away from War:
It's Not the American Way"
By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, posted June 10
The whimsical title is a
little misleading; the article draws five important lessons from the history of
recent decades of U.S. warfare.
"On
D-Day: Remembering the Muslim Troops Who Fought the Axis"
By Juan Cole, Informed
Comment blog, posted June 6
The author teaches
history at the University of Michigan.
"The Scapegoating of Bowe Bergdahl"
By Paul Atwood, CounterPunch.org,
posted June 6
The author is a
Vietnam-era veteran and a just-retired faculty member in American Studies at
the University of Massachusetts Boston.
"Bowe Bergdahl and the Moral Rot of American Exceptionalism"
By Winston Warfield, CounterPunch.org,
posted June 6
The author is a Vietnam
veteran and an active member of Veterans for Peace..
"Benghazi,
Bowe Bergdahl and Manufactured Brouhaha"
By Andrew J. Bacevich, Boston Globe, posted June 6
The author teaches history
and international relations at Boston University.
"Clueless in Cairo: How
Egypt's Generals Sidelined Uncle Sam"
By Dilip
Hiro, TomDispatch.com, posted June 5
The author's 34 books include
After Empire: The Birth
of a Multipolar World.
"Obama's
Foreign Policy Speech vs. Obama's Foreign Policy"
By Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies blog, posted June
5
Partly a critique of
President Obama's West Point speech, partly a survey of recent events in the
Middle East
"Ukraine,
NATO and the World at Turning Points"
By Joseph Gerson, Portside.com, posted June 4
The author is director
of the AFSC's Peace and Economic Security Program.
"Dear
GOP: The US Has Negotiated with Terrorists and Amnestied Them all through
History"
By Juan Cole, Informed
Comment blog, posted June 2
The author teaches
history at the University of Michigan.
"In
Their Silence, Israeli Academics Collude with Occupation"
By Neve
Gordon, Chronicle of Higher Education, posted June 2
The author is a former
chair of the Politics and Government department at Ben Gurion
University.
"A
Middle East Tragedy: Obama's Syria-Policy Disaster"
By Flynt
Leverett and Hillary Mann Everett, The
National Interest, posted May 30
______________
This list was edited by Jim O'Brien and Steve Gosch, with thanks to Mim
Jackson, Rosalyn Baxandall, and an anonymous reader
for suggesting article that are included above. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com..