What is good about Western civilization?

The West has contributed a great many technological, political, philosophical, artistic and religious aspects to modern international culture: having been a crucible of Catholicism, Protestantism, democracy, industrialisation; the first major civilisation to seek to abolish slavery during the 19th century, the first to …

What is Western civilization and why is it important?

The term Western civilization is a catchall to refer to the many cultures of European heritage that share common cultural ideas, philosophical foundations, and ancestral beliefs. Basically, the idea is that these cultures all have a common heritage, which has been important in the development of each.

Is Civilisation a good thing?

There is widespread greement in the Western world that civilization is a good thing, or at least that it is better than the alternatives: barbarism, savagery, or a state of nature of some sort. In fact, for many in the West civilization, progress, and modernity are by definition good things (e.g., Stark 2014).

What exactly is Western civilization?

Western civilization refers to the art, literature, culture, and enduring ideas that emerged from the eastern Mediterranean basin in the centuries before the common era, that developed in myriad forms through the Middle Ages, and that ultimately took modern shape after the Renaissance.

Does Western civilization exist?

There is no such thing as western civilisation.

What’s your opinion of civilization?

“What’s your opinion of civilization?” “It’s a good idea. Somebody ought to start it.” The above joke has continued to appear in periodicals up to the present day, and it may have evolved to produce the quip attributed to Gandhi. A separate QI article about this dialog is located here.

Is there a Western civilization without mass violence?

Violence within the West, and among Western nations, has been just as horrific, from the eight million or so deaths caused by the Thirty Years’ War to the 60 or 70 million fatalities of World War II. The problem is, though, that if we are looking for a civilization that never engaged in mass violence or destruction, we’re unlikely to find one.

What did Thomas Merton say about Western civilization?

“I think it would be a good idea,” he said. In 1969 the journal Continuum from St. Xavier College released a special issue about the religious thinker Thomas Merton, and the author W. H. Ferry mentioned the famous exchange: 7 Like my favorite story about Gandhi: “What do you think of Western civilization?” “I think it would be a good idea.”

Why didn’t the Western world take over the world?

Westerners didn’t take over the globe because their racial makeup made them inherently superior; as subsequent history has shown, non-Westerners are just as capable of sustaining wealthy, complex societies, or of making use of advanced technology, as Westerners.