我想要论述的这个题目虽然是古老的,但现仍有激烈的争论。对这个论题作现代的表述,我可阐述为:把文化视为“系统”是一种有益的模式,这种模式能成为“文化学”的科学基础,开阔新视野,以及接近对文明现象的理解。正如我所说的,在某种意义上这是很老的命题。如同O.施本格勒(Spengler)在他的《西方的没落》(1922)中所说的,通常的观点把人类历史想象为直线进步的过程,这个过程始于新石器时代的某个地区,经历了古代和中世纪的诸种文化,导致我们现代文明,并走向具有无穷可能性的未来。与此相对立的观点,把历史视为诸种伟大文化的序列, Although the topic I want to address is ancient, there is still a heated debate. To make a modern statement of this subject, I can state that culture as a system is a useful model that can become the scientific basis of “culturology”, open up new horizons, and be close to the phenomenon of civilizations understanding. As I said, this is a very old proposition in a sense. As O. Spengler said in his book, The Decline of the West (1922), the usual view of mankind imagines human history as a process of linear progression, beginning in a part of the Neolithic period, Having experienced ancient and medieval cultures, led us to modern civilization and to a future of infinite possibilities. In contrast, the view of history as a series of great cultures,