In This Essay, Various Aspects of Viewing The Civilization Are Discussed in Detail - The Question Is What Western
In This Essay, Various Aspects of Viewing The Civilization Are Discussed in Detail - The Question Is What Western
In This Essay, Various Aspects of Viewing The Civilization Are Discussed in Detail - The Question Is What Western
In this essay, various aspects of viewing the civilization are discussed in detail.The question is what Western
civilization is. Is Western civilization special or evenunique in world History? Does it contain recognizable noteworthy
characteristics? IsWestern culture withering away? How it has changed over time?Civilization can be defined as an advanced state of a society
possessing historicaland cultural unity. This essay deals with the identification of specific societies, becauseof their distinctive
achievements. Because of these achievements, historians haveregarded them as separate civilizations.Histor ical perspective used in viewing a
civilization is a significant unit of relatively recent origin. Before this, a country was studied in viewing a civilization.Throu
ghout middle Ages, European historians viewed the civilization in religiousperspecti ve. They regarded the Christian revelation as the most momentous
event inhistory. They viewed all history as either the prelude to or aftermath of that event. Theearly historians did not study deeply the other cultures
y of Machiavelli. He said that the proper object of historical study was state.Historians became interested in other cultures during the Age of
usedprinciples of rational criticism in viewing beyond the provincialism of earlier historicalthinking. However, his attempts of universal history
historianscriticize d on the 18
th
Century idea that people were the same everywhere at all times.The German philosophers
Johann Von Herder and George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegelemphasized that there were profound differences in the minds and works
of humans indifferent cultures.Accordin g to modern historians of civilizations, it is impossible to write fully understandab
le history of any nation without taking in consideration the types of cultureto which it belongs. They state that many distinctive characteristics are
the base of lifeof a nation or state. The country consists of a larger social entity, and this entity iscultural rather political. In modern times, the
existing civilizations have effects moreand more on one another that no one civilization is achieving a separate destiny anymoreand all
may be considered participants in a common world civilization. Some historianssee striking uniformities in the histories of
civilizations. The German philosopherOswal d Spengler described civilizations as living organisms, each of which passedthrough
identical stages at fixed periods. The British historian Arnold Toynbee is not sorigid determinist as Spengler is and points out a uniform pattern in
the history of civilizations. According to Toynbee, a civilization may prolong its life indefinitely by successful responses to the
various internal and external challenges. Many historians areskeptical of philosophies of history derived from an alleged pattern of the past.
They arereluctant to base predictions about the future on such theories.Many historians studied the civilizations on personal biases. In ancient
times,Herodotus studied many cultures but found his own Western Greek culture superior toall others. Western Civilization embraces North
and South America and Europeexcluding Russia and the British Selfgoverning dominions. In this civilization, the
United States is leading the all other countries. All the characteristics that distinguishthe West from the East are most marked
and developed in America. We are accustomedto take progress for granted; to assume without hesitation that the changes, which havehappened
during the last hundred years, were for the better, and that further changes forthe better are sure to follow indefinitely. The great wars have
made a blow to thisconcept and men have begun to look back the time before 1914 as a golden age.However, the countries like China have made
much progress without changing itsculture. It is as the same as a hundred and fifty years before.The civilization of China is based on the teachings of
Confucius. Like the Greeksand Romans, he did not think of human society as naturally progressive. He believedthat in old ages, rulers had
been wise, and the people had been happy to a degree, whichthe degenerate present could admire but hardly achieve. Confucius aimed to creating astable
society, maintaining a certain level of excellence, but he did not strive after newsuccesses. His personality has been stamped on Chinese
Civilization from his day to ourown. The Confucian system survived, bringing with it art and literature and civilizedways of life. It is only in our own day,
through contact with the West and thewesternized Japanese that this system has begun to break