Ancient and Medieval Cultures: Interaction between Different Places and Cultures
Introduction
The pre-modern world was characterized by the movement of individuals across places and cultures preferably in pursuit of adventure or economic ventures and here, the encounters with foreign and unfamiliar traditions allowed for the assessment of variances as far as ethics were concerned in the given period. Here, the norms that guided social interactions, leadership systems and the perceptions regarding what was acceptable versus the actions deemed as gross violations of the codes of conduct created the differences among the people from different places and cultures. As opposed to the case in contemporary nations were standard social codes of conduct are applicable, the pre-modern world comprised the existence in isolated and defined territories with distinct ethical standards and ideological traditions (Lambert, 106). This essay will assess the interactions between different places and cultures based on examples from Ibn Ishaq and Marco Polo texts to determine how encounters with the unfamiliar and foreign reflected the ethics in the pre-modern world.
The assessment of the texts by Ibn Ishaq and Marco Polo indicate that the ethics of the pre-modern world were aimed at preserving the identity of the subject culture or place and shunning external influences that were experienced through individual thinking or visits by foreigners. Here, the society deemed all alien practices and ideas as unethical and unaccepted in the society and the bearers of such information were rebuked in an attempt to preserve the identity of the society. In the case of the text on Ibn Ishaq, an individual as witnessed in the case of Ibn Ishaq was accepted in the event that he or she was able to retain the memory of the traditions of the subject society and place. The text explains that Ibn Ishaq can be referred to as a Muslim tradition reporter and the son of Ibn Ishaq indicates the unacceptance of norms that were reported by a single person. Here, it is evident that the ethical standards of the pre-modern world based on the information from Ibn Ishaq text were founded on collective acceptance. In reference to Ibn Ishaq, it is indicated that ‘he himself would not accept a tradition which only Ibn Ishaq reported’ (35). Also, the aspect of the introduction of new ideas in the context of the ethics of the pre-modern world is evident in that, it is apparent that the Muslim society explained in the case of Ibn Ishaq ascribed to reports that corroborated among different individuals and personalized ideas were not accepted. Here, the legitimacy of an idea is not considered but the number of people who could agree with the given ideology provided the grounds for acceptance and hence, a new idea was ethically wrong. It is important to note that the confined nature of the traditional places and cultures prevented extensive interactions with new ethical norms or sources of knowledge and hence, unjustified knowledge was deemed as a threat to the established ethical structure of the society.
In the case of Marco Polo, his travels to Asia allows for the assessment of ethics in the pre-modern world as far as unfamiliar and foreign encounters are concerned. As it is in the case of Ibn Ishaq, the experience of Marco Polo indicates that the ethics in the pre-modern world were founded on the preservation of the identity of the people within a given place or culture and that external idea was refuted. Marco Polo’s travels led to his imprisonment in a Genoese prison. By virtue of being of a foreign assent to the people of Genoese, Marco Polo can be deemed to have been a threat to the ethical definitions of the given place and culture. Here, the understanding of the pre-modern culture from the experience of Marco Polo is established by questioning the reasons for his imprisonment, and the implication of his foreign accent, ideas, and traditions to the ethical codes of Genoese people. Here, it is apparent that the need to shun external influences on the local cultures attracted aggression among the pre-modern places and cultures. It is important to note that the pre-modern cultures were marked with hospitality for the unfamiliar and foreign individuals and hence, the treatment of divergent opinions and ethical codes in a certain way were necessitated by the need to uphold the place or cultures’ identity (Davis, 78).
In the contemporary context, the article on BBC (1), describes how unfamiliar and foreign encounters with the Andamans tribe which is a community living in an isolated island in India which has no ties with the external world reflects on ethics in the interactions between different places and cultures. In the BBC (1) article, it is reported that the given tribe attacks foreigners approaching the island with arrows and in the given incident, an American; John Allen Chau was shot with arrows for trying to reach the island. While the texts on Marco Polo and Ibn Ishaq did not involve the killing of foreigners in an attempt to preserve local cultures and ethical codes, the case of Andamans tribe reiterate on the need to preserve identity through the shunning of external ideologies and influences by given places and cultures. The fact that the Andamans have refuted civilization positions the development stage of the given society at the same level as the pre-modern communities.
The BBC (1) report indicates that John Allen Chau could have aimed at preaching Christianity to the isolated tribe. The perception of John Allen Chau represented the contemporary approaches to foreign and unfamiliar whereby, individuals are able to embrace new ideas, appreciate divergent ethical standards and create harmonious co-existence through the creation of compromise and acceptance. The text from BBC allows for the creation of a comparison between a typical contemporary approach towards ethical standards as far as unfamiliar and foreign are concerned against the pre-modern state. In the contemporary context, morality can be defined to include instances that preserve mutual consideration of divergent cultural practices and ideologies (Beck and Carl, 47). In this case, a person is deemed as moral if his or her actions do not offend the traditions, norms or welfare of another person as opposed to the pre-modern definition where morality was founded on adhering to universally accepted codes and shunning new ideas.
Conclusion
While the contemporary places and cultures are marked with extensive sharing of information and cultural practices, it is apparent that the pre-modern world was established on conservatism where external ideas were refuted in an attempt to sustain a local identity. However, isolated cases in the modern world as witnessed in the case of Andaman tribe represent the manner in which certain places are determined to preserve cultures by shunning links to the external world.
Work Cited
(Include the sources for the Marco Polo and Ibn Ishaq texts)
BBC. American ‘killed in India by endangered Andamans tribe.’ [Online]. Available at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46286215. [Accessed December 4th, 2018]
Beck, Sam, and Carl A. Maida. Public Anthropology in a Borderless World. New York: Berghahn Books, 2017
Davis, James. Medieval Market Morality: Life, Law, and Ethics in the English Marketplace, 1200-1500. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012
Lambert, Anne. Transition in the Pre-Modern World. US: Tritech Digital Media, 2018
