The Axial Age

It was Karl Jaspers who coined the phrase 'The Axial Age' in his book 'The Origin and Purpose of History'. It describes the cultural changes which occurred in the first millennium BC. that inaugurated a new vision of the world based on values ​​different from the previous ones. What was surprising about these ideological advances in religion, philosophy, and science was that they occurred at virtually the same time throughout the Eurasian continent.

The almost simultaneous appearance of common ideas, but spread over a vast continent, is difficult to explain. Jaspers cites the hypothesis of the German Alfred Weber, 19th century economist and geographer. This author proposes that the expansion of ideas in antiquity was due to something concrete: the taming of the horse. The horsemen were the Aryans who inhabited the steppes of Central Asia. As equestrian nomads they covered an area that stretched from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan to China. These Aryan horsemen arrived in Iran and India around 1200 BC and in China at the end of the second millennium. The Zoroastrian religion of Persia (Irano-Aryan) was converted in India to Indo-Aryan and finally Hinduism. Weber argues that these invasions by horsemen of civilizations like India, China and the West brought them together over communication routes. The ideas would then travel through trade and religious pilgrims

On the other hand, Baumard, Hyafil and Boyer in their article characterize the Axial Age not as a cognitive change but as a behavioral one: it is when self-discipline and altruism emerge, a moral change. The authors argue that the change in orientation was to focus attention on objectives from the short to the long term. They were behavioral changes within society: in cooperation (compassion and charity); in sexuality (taboos); in economics (condemnation of greed and exaggerated consumption); in family (more care of the offspring). In definite how to improve social integration.

The Persian Empire was formed in the middle of the first millennium BC, a pivotal date in the Axial Age. Persian rule spread over all ancient civilizations and beyond: from Macedonia to India, some 4,000 km. A network of roads and rapid communication by horse held the empire together in information, trade and ideas. Herodotus tells that the imperial courier linked Ephesus with Persepolis in a week using horsemen, posts and the Persian royal route. Merchants using the same posts as caravanserai exchanged ideologies throughout the territory.

It is speculated that imperial commerce and communications, together with Persian religious tolerance, led to religious syncretism and thus the theocratic principle was gradually brought into question. Questions about divine justice prompted the first attempts to formulate a greater awareness of the responsibility of personal destiny, particularly in China, India, the Middle East, and Greece. In addition, the practical question of how best to manage the new cities prompted reflection on the most appropriate policies.

In China individual thinkers such as Confucius, Lao-Tzu, and Mo Tzu pondered the ethical and metaphysical implications of human existence. From their teachings came Confucianism, Daoism and Jainism.

Confucius appears in China in the middle of the first millennium BC. when central control has been lost in a country that through centuries of civil war split into 14 feudal states. Confucius' proposed answer was a fundamental reflection on what it means to be human. He tried to revitalize and redefine institutions that for centuries had provided political and social stability: the family, the school, the local community, the state, and the kingdom. He proposed "de" (the charisma to attract and change others) as a fundamental value for personal and social order

In India the authors of the Upanishads expanded their research to include metaphysical thought in their search for the meaning of life. They evolved to become the teachings of Buddha and Mahavri.
It is said that Buddha was a prince but that when he became aware of human misery he decided to seek a solution. He did not investigate the environment but his inner self. India's answer would be sought within the human, not in the outside world.

The core of the Buddha's teaching can be captured in the 4 truths: exorbitant sensory contact causes suffering that traps us in a vicious cycle. To end this cycle, you have to reach nirvana, the end of exaggerated desire. You get there by practicing meditation.

In Palestine the prophets Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah insisted on monotheism and the free pact, an alliance, between the people and their God against the polytheism of the environment and their puppet gods. It was during the exile in Babylon in the 6th century BC. that the perception of Yahveh changed. Instead of being seen as a god of war or empty ritual, the prophets viewed Him as a personal God. In this renewed Covenant an individual relationship was established between God and his people that required individual responsibility, morality, and justice.

In Greece the changes were more philosophical than spiritual. They were inaugurated by the group of Mileto, Samos and Heraclitus who influenced Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. These philosophers investigated the principles of existence based on the belief that humanity can understand and decide on its own life without reference to the gods.

 Socrates' interests were centered on ethics: how to live life? In short, how to live in society? Athens found a brilliant answer: democracy. The Socratic question-and-answer method of getting to the truth may come from the courts, where lawyers would use this system to question the accused.

Some include Zoroaster in this new era saying that he was a contemporary of Cyrus the Great, emperor of Persia. Others date him before the Axial Age in the second millennium. The idea of ​​monotheism is atributed to him.

Jaspers divides the story into various eras. During the Paleolithic, humans were gatherers and hunters. In the Neolithic, some began to colonize a territory and dedicate themselves to agriculture. Then came civilization, cities, politics and legislation to try to solve the problems of coexistence. Within these theocratic societies problems were projected onto the authorities and the gods.

New ideas that were postulated, almost simultaneously, in the Axial Age by prophets, philosophers, and rationalists at various points in Eurasia included:

- The freedom and independence of the individual; 

- fundamental questions about the meaning of human existence 

- a rational vision of natural processes. 

In the East the answers were based on inner peace; in the West in the harmonious order of society. 

The consequences of the Axial Age are still with us. We are aware of ourselves and our limitations. Philosophy and science emerged and have shaped our modern way of thinking in the West. If we add Islam, modern world religious beliefs were then established along with their proselytizing tendency that implies religious intolerance.