著者

高山 進

出版者

三重大学

雑誌

三重大学生物資源学部紀要 (ISSN:09150471)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.31, pp.73-96, 2004-03-15

被引用文献数

1

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In this work, I define "environment-civilization history" as the history of culture or civilization systems focusing on the relation between nature and mankind. History must describe how each cultural or civilization area has developed their own patterns of population supporting, resources gaining, pollution discharging, technology, economy, ruling, views of nature amid the special climatic conditions and natural backgrounds (for example woods and wetlands etc.). I introduce some typical discussions about Japanese "environment-civilization history" from the historical demography and the history of agriculture. Furthermore I compare European (England and Continental countries) cases with Japanese ones, paying particular attention to the way of overcoming stagnation periods, which necessarily come at the end of a civilization cycle, the so-called Malthusian trap. I deliberately use the method of "anti-progressivism" and the analogically applied the rules gained from the experiments on a "microcosm (infinite ecosystem)", which was carried out by a biologist named Yasushi Kurihara, and I confirm the conclusion that Japan had overcome the Malthusian trap in the beginning of 18^<th> century in the preventive way. To the contrary, continental Europe had fallen miserably into in the compulsory way at the beginning of 17^<th> century. The case of England was more complicated. It looks like the same situation as Japan experienced, but if they hadn't had such an incidental resource as coal, they would not have experienced such a successful outcome.