CHALLENGE AND RESPONSE THEORY AND THE PHASES OF CIVILIZATIONAL EXPANSION AND COLLAPSE FROM THE ENGLISH PHILOSOPHER ARNOLD TOYNBEE’S VIEW

Abstract

This study covers the life of English philosopher Arnold Toynbee and the concept of the theory through which he showed us the reasons for the emergence of civilisations, their growth, and stages of rise, followed by a statement of the reasons for their collapse. They demonstrated that these reasons begin with an era expressed in the era of turmoil up to several to the collapse, but according to the concept of the theory, this collapse is not the end of the age of civilization. The volumes bearing the title of a study of history are a sufficient reference for those who want to stand on the point of view of Arnold Toynbee in civilization and its establishment and dissolution. However, there is an Indian summer that overshadows that civilization and arrives at an untimely moment, concealing a harsh winter that he defined as a global nation that prolongs the life of civilization. That nation is the last hope that the people of society have for the resurgence of the lustre of the collapsed civilization, but it did not continue because of the emergence of the decay effect that affected that civilization, which began in an era that followed the world state known as the age of emptiness, during which the dominant minority loses all creative faculties and the external proletariat assumes the role of decision-maker, thus initiating the era of decay for civilization to eventually fade away and become a thing of the past, retreating into a tiny area that is all that the majority-minority has left.