"Civilization" — Application of the Term. Various Types and Kinds of Civilizations

The article "Civilization — Application of the Term. Various Types and Kinds of Civilizations" (2018) provides a systematic overview of the polysemy of the concept of "civilization." The author analyzes the traditional definition of civilization as a community of states and peoples linked by material culture, technology, and writing, and then consistently expands this notion. The work examines local historical civilizations (Egyptian, Sumerian, Ancient), prehistoric civilizations that existed during the primitive-communal period, as well as the theory of local civilizations by Danilevsky, Spengler, and Toynbee. Special attention is paid to the synthesis of formational and civilizational approaches, where the struggle of civilizations is seen as the engine of progress. The main part of the article is devoted to "other civilizations" — forms of intelligent life not reducible to the human model. These include extraterrestrial civilizations (SETI search), unknown ancient civilizations, future human civilization, pre-human civilizations (the reptilian hypothesis), modern non-human civilizations (dolphins, ants), post-human civilizations of the distant future, as well as hypothetical microcosmic civilizations (at the level of elementary particles), macrocosmic civilizations (the multiverse), and imagined civilizations in science fiction. The author concludes that the traditional understanding of civilization is anthropocentric and needs to be expanded. Recognizing other types of intelligence is not a diminution of human dignity, but a necessary step for the development of science, ethics, and the search for extraterrestrial life.