Page 180 - Communication and the Evolution of Society

157 Historical Materialism

lated within the framework of the kinship system, that is, at the
conventional stage. The situation is similar with structures of
consciousness that are already clearly established in interpretive
systems but have not yet found institutional embodiment in action
systems. Thus in many myths of primitive societies there are al-
ready narratively constructed models of conflicts and their resolu-
tions that correspond to the conventional stage of development
of moral consciousness; at the same time the institutionalized law
satisfies the criteria of the preconventional stage of moral con-
sciousness.
In our (very tentative) attempt to distinguish levels of soczal
integration, it is therefore advisable to keep separate (a) general
structures of action, (b) structures of world views insofar as they
are determinant for morality and law, and (c) structures of zn-
stitutionalized law and of binding moral representations.
Neolithic Societies: (a) conventionally structured system of ac-
tion (symbolic reality is graduated into the level of actions and
that of norms); (b) mythological world views still immediately
enmeshed with the system of action (with conventional patterns
of resolving moral conflicts of action); (c) legal regulation of
conflict from preconventional points of view (assessment of action
consequences, compensation for resultant damages, restoration of
status quo ante).
Early Civilizations: (a) conventionally structured system of
action; (b) mythological world views, set off from the system of
action, which take on legitimating functions for the occupants
of positions of authority; (c) conflict regulation from the point
of view of a conventional morality tied to the figure of the ruler
who administers or represents justice (evaluation according to
action intentions, transition from retaliation to punishment, from
joint liability to individual liability) .
Developed Civilizations: (a) conventionally structured system
of action; (b) break with mythological thought, development of
rationalized world views (with postconventional legal and moral
representations); (c) conflict regulation from the point of view
of a conventional morality detached from the reference person
of the ruler (developed system of administering justice, tradition-
dependent but systematized law).