Compare And Contrast Civilization And Western Civilization

Through out the history of Western Civilization we have seen many important moments occur. From the Neolithic revolution, to humans conquering and spreading across the globe, there are many moments that have shaped its history and the present day. In this essay I will mention 5 of the most important moments/changes in Western Civilization and the reasons for why they are so important to societies in the western world and beyond.

Sullivan, Richard E., Dennis Sherman and John B. Harrison A Short history of Western Civilization

After reading chapter 1, I was really impressed that I actually made it through the chapter without falling asleep and that I learned a lot as well. The main thing that caught my interest was the western civilization of Egypt and Mesopotamia in 3000 B.C.E. Although they were both civilized at the same time, and do have some similarities, they were very different culturally. The Mesopotamians were located on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where the topography and climate was very unpredictable. The Mesopotamians were pessimistic and constantly lived in fear because they didn’t know, geographically, if they would become victims of severe droughts or deadly flash floods. Politically, Mesopotamia was conformed of self governing city-states

As Mesopotamia starts to grow, Egypt was also thriving. Their ideas on patriarchal society start to spread and they start to have more of a stand in trading. Because of their trading, they created links many different countries with their products. They also influence on agriculture due to their uses of the Nile river. Because of the location and the overall area, Egypt because extremely prosperous. They have also introduced writings to preserve documents and just to be a form of expression.

In “Western Civilizations” the authors explain the different characteristic phases of development of pre-historical humanity. The first phase is the Paleolithic eras, (Old Stone Age) where Human used fire to make tools. In this period men were hunting and women were gathering for getting food. The second phase is the Neolithic eras (New Stone Age), where people become sedentary and began to domesticate animals and cultivate plants. Also the increasing of population and the spreading of infectious diseases characterized this era. The third phase is the Emergence of towns and villages. During this stage, people developed irrigation for supporting their agriculture. They constructed the cities, developed pottery and stored grain, wine and oils.

This paper will look at some of the important aspects of various cultures in Western Civilization. Much of the political and cultural changes that were occurring during the rise of the nations and Empires that the Western Civilization is known for, was a result of shifting hierarchies and changes in status (Cole et. al, 2014). The key aspects of Western Civilizations before 1000 BCE are the Babylonian Hammurabi Code. These were a set of laws that that spoke of justice. The Codes were based on an eyes for an eye type of justice. Between 3,500 and 3,000 BCE the cities of Egypt and Mesopotamia it was around this time that writing was developed (Cole et, al 2014). The Hammurabi Codes and the advent of writing are both important culturally because they have contributed to the laws and writing that exist even today. Western Civilization is generally seen as the

The key aspects of “Western Civilization” includes the introduction of legal systems, agriculture, culture, religious beliefs, as well as weapons amongst a diverse population of people. Historians can conclude different theories for the development of the west by inspecting artifacts left behind from these individuals by using carbon dating, examining and translating languages imprinted into clay, as well as observing monuments that indicate different cultures or beliefs. It is written that the west was originally named the west by the Greek people; on the assumption that the “Greeks originated the idea of the West as a separate region, identifying Europe as the West (where the sun sets) and different from the East (where the sun rises).”

After the September 11 attacks, the United States of America and the rest of the West found their democracies and republics in conflict with the Islamic world and left unable to fully judge the context of the attacks. Roger Scruton offers a conceptual explanation and argument to answer the question “What is exactly Western civilization, and what holds it together?”. He uses his answer to help explain the cultural, political, and social struggle between the internal worlds of Western civilization and Islamic civilization. Scruton’s The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat gives context, proof, and commentary on the continuities and discontinuities between Western and Islamic principles to emphasize the need for renewal of the distinct Western culture.

In modern times the term “Western Civilization” is a broad term referring to an amalgamation of societies that are all derived from Europe. Although many believe that western civilization is superior to the rest due to its ability to control, western civilization incorporated beliefs and ideas from many cultures around the world. The phrase “western civilization” is a social construct that was never concretely defined. When western civilization is defined as all modern advancement to be European derived, it is opposed to its reality as the result of joint effort of many cultures.

The concept of the “West” began after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire declined for its division between the Eastern, and the Western Rome which occurred in 285 A.D. After the fall of Rome, the literature, its art, history, and technology were scattered and was lost near the western part of the empire. This scattering of lost history made the formation of a new West Empire. Christianity and Roman Catholicism played a dominant role in the shaping of the Western. There are three major parts that influenced and helped the development of the Western Civilization which is Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome.

The statement that "western civilizations have survived all these years without any input from the primitive cultures of the Two-Thirds world traditions" is false. Everyone from around the world have taken ideas from the primitive cultures, which helped build each land to what it is today. Taking ideas from primitive cultures especially helped the Europeans who came to America. They tried to make Native Americans assimilate to their western ideals, culture, and religion. Even though the Europeans tried forcing the Native Americans to assimilate, they still took ideas from the Native Americans. So western civilizations did indeed take from the primitive cultures of the Two-Thirds world.

Western civilizations were greatly influenced by the ancient Greek and roman civilizations. The interesting art and architecture coming from the Greeks the technology and science coming from the Greeks, the strong religion coming from the Romans. These factors all played a big role creating the western civilizations.

Both Islamist groups and Western nations have heightened the cultural divide between the West and Middle East, which has prolonged the war on terror through an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ dichotomy. Similar to the religious divide Islamist extremists have used to justify their holy war, Westerners have created a ‘West verses the Rest’ mentality, used to perpetuate fear through cultural generalisations. The forefront of this divide is Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilisations’ thesis which argues that as identity becomes based on ideology, individuals “are likely to see an “us” versus “them” relation existing between themselves and people of different ethnicity or religion.” This thesis implies the complete incompatibility of ‘Western’ and ‘Islamic’ ideals, which he predicts will cause conflict in the future. Whilst Huntington did predict the conflict between these two groups, his lack of nuance represents the reason terrorism has become more prevalent. The clash of civilisations has become a self-fulfilling prophecy centered on the shock of 9/11, which caused the West to focus on division to separate the morally corrupt terrorists from the victims. Said, in his critique of Huntington’s thesis, sums up how the clash of civilisations is “better for reinforcing defensive self-pride than for critical understanding.” Historically, in times of fear people tend to create a clear ‘us’ and ‘them’ based on highlighting the positives of the in-group and the negatives of the out-group. The

The Egyptian Civilization began around the time of 3000 B.C. The Egyptians started as two separate kingdoms formed in upper and lower Egypt. The pharaoh that unified the two kingdoms was the ruler named Narmer. This is how Egypt developed in many ways that were similar to the thriving Mesopotamians. What helped the Egyptians thrive in this time period was that they were geographically isolated for over a thousand years. The Egyptians had an ideal growth for civilization just because they had no foreign threats. What this did for the Egyptians was it gave them faith which began the start of their religion in believing in many different gods for keeping them safe and providing the opportunity to grow and become a unified civilization.

How did modern western civilization develop from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the Byzantine empire and through the middle ages of Europe? Modern civilization developed from the Greeks, Romans, the Byzantines, and the Middle ages by acquiring the uniquity of the greeks, the public services of the Romans, the Byzantines had stored all of the roman greek knowledge, finally, the middle ages showed us how one can be self employed for which he can prosper.