1) the verb form means: "To shed light on; to give intellectual light to; enable to see or comprehend."
2) The noun form means: "A movement of the eighteenth century marked by the free use of reason and the rise of humanism." ( The New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary. Avenel Books. 1980. pg 290 )
When President Gordon B. Hinckley encouraged us to increase in civility, it is quite possible that he was telling us to increase our intellectual understanding of things in general and specifically, increase our understanding of governments and the philosophical ideas that support them.
I don't think that a Prophet was trying to tell us to be satisfied with re-reading our last research paper from American Heritage. I think he was suggesting that we begin to struggle and stretch ourselves over the ideas that underpin our society. The next question must be, "why?"
Although there are many reason to explore ideas about governments and social structures, one of the best explanations can be found in the following quote:
". . .civilization requires. . . .confidence--confidence in the society in which one lives, belief in its philosophy, belief in it laws and confidence in one's own mental powers. The way in which the stones of the Pont du Gard [a Roman aqueduct ] are laid is not only a triumph of technical skill, but shows a vigorous belief in law and discipline. Vigor, energy, vitality: all the great civilizations- or civilizing epochs- have had a weight of energy behind them. People sometimes think that civilization consists in fine sensibilities and good conversation and all that. These can be among the agreeable results of civilization, but they are not what makes a civilization, and a society can have these amenities and yet be dead and rigid." (Kenneth Clark. Civilization. Harper and Row. 1969 pg.4)
We only need to look to the Book of Mormon to see the disastrous results that can occur when a society loses its sense of civility.
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