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The Singular Civilization: Liberty, Law, and the Moral Foundations of True Order

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  • Heng-fu Zou

Abstract

This paper challenges the prevailing relativist view that multiple civilizations co exist as morally equal alternatives. It advances a normative thesis: civilization has one, and only one, valid definition-an institutional order grounded in individual liberty, rule of law, private property, and constitutional limitations on power. Drawing on a historical genealogy from Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome to the Renaissance and Enlightenment, the paper shows that only the Western tradition has systematically developed and defended this conception of civilization. It critiques influential relativist frameworks, especially that of Arnold Toynbee, and rejects the moral equivalence of despotic and liberal regimes. Through rigorous philosophical and historical analysis, and by examining examples of organized barbarismimperial China, Islamic caliphates, Aztec theocracies, and modern totalitarian states-the paper asserts that the institutionalization of liberty is the only legitimate measure of civilization. The future of global order depends on defending this civilizational standard against both external authoritarianism and intermal relativism. Civilization is not plural, and it is not neutral. It is liberty, or it is nothing.

Suggested Citation

  • Heng-fu Zou, 2025. "The Singular Civilization: Liberty, Law, and the Moral Foundations of True Order," CEMA Working Papers 768, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:cuf:wpaper:768
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