Civilization versus the Barbarian

By Jeremy Egerer

One of the most important questions facing civilization -- not only in light of the savagery of London's riots, but in all of history -- is how civilization defines barbarism. The need for such a definition is not restricted to the cause of conservatism. Its absence was particularly glaring in John Stuart Mill's philosophical treatise, On Liberty, which made a very strong case for the radical permission of individuality. In said work, Mill declared that a diverse population ensured not only public access to a wide range of philosophies, but also a window into the functionality of personal lifestyles. From this panoramic moral viewpoint, free peoples were supposed to judge for themselves the merits of behavioral patterns, recognizing quickly and hopefully abandoning those which stood in strongest opposition to wisdom. Most boundaries of individuality, in this case, would be clearly marked by the natural mechanics of the universe, with personal pain and failure indicating transgression instead of the state. But even this permission of individuality had legal limits. As stated.... (Read Full Article)