Societies develop in stages of growth. These stages in some ways parallel the stages of growth of an individual. Stages of growth include both stages of emotional development and stages of knowledge. A comparison between individual stages and stages of social consciousness was developed in this post.
The chart below shows the stages of social development:
Stages of Society
|
Social Stage |
Individual Counterpart |
Political Structure |
Western Example |
LLPH Version |
|
State of Nature |
Biological Impulses |
Individual Strength |
Gangs, Clans |
0.0 |
|
Command Society |
Child: Obey parents |
Military Conquest |
Babylonian Empire |
1.0 |
|
Virtuous Society |
Youth: Role Model Emulation |
Social Contract |
Roman Republic |
2.0 |
|
Principled Society |
Science and Reason |
Rational Principles |
US Constitution |
3.0 |
|
Integral Society |
Mature Wisdom |
Institutional Organism |
Unrealized |
4.0 |
Version 0.0 described what Thomas Hobbes called “the State of Nature.” At this stage people are guided by biological impulses, including mating, plunder, and fight or flight. The formation of clans is based on mating, while the formation of gangs is based on personal survival.
Version 1.0 is based on military conquest and imposition of conquerors rules and commands. Over time, laws develop that allow for happiness of the people, and therefore the stability of the regime. Hammurabi’s code, from which the Ten Commandments can be derived, is an example of a promulgated code that led to the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness by those under the king’s rule, while he is in power.
Version 2.0 is based on a social contract. This system is organized and agreed upon by members of a society. The classic example is the Twelve Tables of Rome, adopted by the Patricians (ruling class) and the Plebians (working class) after the workers went on a prolonged republic-wide work stoppage. This system provided life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for those party to the social contract.
Version 3.0 is based on rational and scientific principles that analyze the flow of power and create a constitutional rule of law to provide maximum freedom for people governed by the constitution. The early rational stage often finds faults with virtues or commands that fall outside the bounds of principles, rather than transcending and including them, which is an integral approach.
Version 4.0 is based on and integral view of a complex society in which rational and scientific principles lie behind a variety of political, economic, and cultural institutions that are an interrelated organic system. (Analogous to the interrelationship of organs in the human body).