Western Civilization.The modern era - Essay Example

Western Civilization Introduction: Western civilization is a term which is used to refer to cultures of European origin. This term sprang up as a way of depicting the difference between the Graeco-Roman culture and its offspring, is in distinction to the older neighboring civilizations of the Middle East. This sustained to provide as a replica of civilization in the "west" for a long time. In Ideas, Peter Watson concludes that the mix, in contemporary culture, of Enlightenment-stytle scientific rationalism and 19th-century Romantic idealism creat what he calls "the modern incoherence": Watson argues that Enlightenment science and Romantic art, Enlightenment empiricism and Romantic fundamentalism, propose inherently irreconcilable views of human experience and of the world. (Peter, Watson 2006) Definition of Western Civilization: "There are three major themes whose development and interplay have shaped the distinctive characteristics that set Western civilization apart from the other great historic cultures. They are the growth of a tradition of rational scientific inquiry, the persistence of a tension between Judaeo-Christian religious ideals and social realities, the emergence of constitutional forms of government." (Brian Tierney, Donald Kagan and Pearce Williams L p.xi). The theory of Western culture is normally connected to the classical explanation of the Western world. In this definition, "Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic and philosophical principles which set it apart from other civilizations. Much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the Western canon."( Jones, Prudence and Pennick, Nigel, 1995). Henry, Boren, C remarks that Western civilization is "still the most dynamic element in the modern world." He further remarks that Western civilization is successor to previous civilizations that urbanized out of the Mediterranean region. In its most wide definition, Western civilization is that accumulation of political, economic, social, and intellectual traditions that has developed for 5,000 years since the appearance of the first civilizations in the ancient Near East. Today, Western civilization is primarily regarded as centering on the Atlantic community or Western Europe and those societies in the Western Hemisphere and Australasia that are offshoots of European tradition and culture (p xiv). The Modern Era Religion in the meantime has waned considerably in Western Europe, where many are agnostic or atheist. Nearly half of the populations of the United Kingdom (44-54%), Germany (41-49%), France (43-54%) and the Netherlands (39-44%) are non-theist. Religious belief in the United States is very strong that is about 75-85% of the population are religious (Zuckerman, P 2005). As Europe discovered the wider world, old concepts adapted. The Islamic world which had formerly been considered "the Orient" ("the East") more specifically became the "Near East" as the interests of the European powers for the first time interferred with Qing China and Meiji Japan in the 19th century. (Davidson, Roderic H 1960) Thus, the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895 occurred in the "Far East", while the troubles surrounding the decline of the Ottoman Empire simultaneously occurred in the "Near East" (Hogarth, D G1902). The uncovering and innovation of new classes of energy bring about key change. The tackling of fire contributed to cooking, ceramics, and smelting. The toggle from oxen to horses and into watermills assisted in creating the 12th-century Renaissance. The acceptance of Arab-Latin rigging on Mediterranean ships helped them to get the most of the wind and discover the more unsafe and mysterious Atlantic. Right from the beginning of 18th century, electrical gadgets began to come out, though electricity demanded other forms of energy to produce it. The growth of steam control brought about the Industrial Revolution. The discovery of the electron created 20th-century technology, culminating in the internet (Peter, Watson 2006). Most big ideas are generated according to the local circumstances and situations which later on had global effects. The Israelites devised ethical monotheism because they were small people bordered by mighty neighbors. They required explaining to themselves why they should have faith in themselves. Early Christianity was a religion absolutely suited for poor people who required hope for the future, precisely the same request as Marxism had immediately when there was poverty in the new metropolises (Peter, Watson 2006). Sometimes it happened that more than one person had a new idea at approximately the same time. For instance Alfred Russell Wallace and Charles Darwin with natural selection; Ernst Mach and Albert Einstein with relativity got the same ideas at the same time. According to Thomas Kuhn, in the 1840s at least 12 people were moving toward the idea of the conservation of energy. Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg with atonality; Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung with the unconscious; Wassily Kandinsky, Frantisek Kupka, Konstantine Ciurlionius with abstraction; Hans von Ohain and Frank Whittle with the jet engine all about came at the same time. It is not magical game that ideas come actually they are responses to circumstance (Peter, Watson 2006). All through history, ideas have accompanied trade. Yet epochs where novel thoughts, technological and philosophical, grow, such as the 12th century Renaissance, looks to rise when situations give greater freedom for individuals-in cities and in new professions. Such freedom also sprang up from new social arrangements, new forms of cooperation when needed, or when a new psychology is generated and great individuality is allowed (Peter, Watson 2006). All the same, one thing has occured and another thing may be about to occur which could change all that. The hereditary research since World War II has demonstrated that we are all one people who began in Africa around 150,000 years ago. This includes the Internet and globalization. I period of speeding up came with the first cities in Mesopotamia, the II with the cathedrals and universities in Europe in the 12th-13th centuries. Such speed for the third time came with the metropolises of the 19th-early 20th centuries. The next step in this advancement is globalization which is bringing vast numbers of people together, even though it is only in a virtual way. Apart from the PC and the transistor, all our so-called novel technologies were devised before World War II. We are actually living in an age of consolidation, not an age of novelty (Peter, Watson 2006). Conclusion: Thus new ideas sprang up depending on the situations and circumstances in which man found him. Such ideas gave birth to inventions and revolutions. When Max Planck wanted to learn physics in the late 19th century, he was advised by his teacher not to anticipate much, because physics was more or less complete. The real inventions degenerating from globalization have yet to come. The world is preoccupied with speed and smallness, but if discovery of quantum computer comes true, then: (1) The world will ultimately be able to be in two places at once. (2) Effect will precede cause. These are really new ideas. The world does not understand that it is these changes have echoes of Grossestest, Copernicus, Schoenberg, and Planck. Refeences: 1. Jones, Prudence and Pennick, Nigel 1995, A History of Pagan Europe, Barnes & Noble ISBN 0-7607-1210-7. 2. Stearns, P N (2003), Western Civilization in World History. New York: Routledge. 3. Brian Tierney, Donald Kagan and Pearce Williams L 1992, Great Issues in Western Civilization, 2 vols, N.Y.McGraw-Hill. 4. Zuckerman, P. 2005, "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns" Pitzer College. Retrieved: 2006-06-21. 5. Davidson, Roderic H. (1960). "Where is the Middle East" Foreign Affairs 38: p. 665-675. 6. Peter, Watson 2006, Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud, Harper Perennial. Read More