Should Western Civilization Be Studied?

Civilization: The West and the Rest, presented by Niall Ferguson, is a documentary in which Ferguson reveals what he calls the six killer applications which has helped Western civilization dominate over everyone else. These six applications are competition, science, property, medicine, consumerism, and work. Ferguson asks many questions over the course of the series as well as provides examples as to how Western civilization has surpassed other nations and empires. Ferguson’s main question in each episode is, “If we lose our monopoly over apps like these, could Western civilization be consigned to history.” This paper will analyze Ferguson’s questions and the examples he provides for the killer applications of competition, science, property, medicine, consumerism, and work, as well as his conclusions as to why the West has risen to the top, how the rest are passing up the West, as well as his conclusions to if the West can remain above the rest.

First, I agree that the Western civilization has a clear lineage that focuses on the majority of the following attributes: competition/innovation, science, property rights, personal freedoms, and a free-market economy. Ferguson (2014) points out that competition, property oriented government and science are some of the unique attributes that enabled the West rise to power. As a result of competition, the western people became more innovative and business-oriented, thus, making them aggressive in areas

For this reason, Pope Loe IX led other church officials in implementing reform efforts that would see ensure that the church could get back its lost power. For this reason, Pope Loe IX gave orders to the Roman Catholic clergy to dismiss the church officials that had taken part in selling church offices, and to renounce their wives (McKay et al., 2014). The orders were essential for ensuring that the church could control the corruption that was becoming rampant in the church. The measures were also essential for sending a message to the secular leaders, which was presumably an indication that they were working on regaining their lost power. After the death of Pope Leo, Gregory VII, Leo’s successor, continued with the reform work based on his ideological foundation (McKay et al., 2014). One of the reforms was the expelling of secular influence within church and the papal institution, which led to the expansion of the papal powers. such reforms solved the problems that the church was facing, which means that they were appropriate for the realization of the predetermined

In conclusion the midwest and the west region are not very much alike. But they do have some similarities that i explained in my essay. But i believe the midwest is more put together than the west because of its land and background of its religion and

The west is a vast of lands west of the Mississippi river. Before white people came to the land, it was inhabited for centuries by tanned skinned Native Americans whose ways of living are far different from the foreign people. For centuries big colonial empires tried various ways to claim the west until it became a part of United States of America. However, many Natives sacrificed their lives to protect their land, yet in the end their arrows cannot match the power of the foreigner 's guns and cannons. The west is not only abundant in terms of resources, but also in folklore, history, and became the birth of the modern American culture. Furthermore, PBS provided a helpful links in order to understand and appreciate the stories about the stories about how the west became the frontier of United States. These links are "The People" and "Empire upon the Trails" which gave some interesting facts about the beginning of the West.

First, Mr. Stark is a Social Science Professor at Baylor University, who is well versed to tell the story of Western Civilization. Mr. Rodney Stark the Author of How The West Won, is committed to truth, with a willingness to go out on a limb for truthful historical data that may be “barbaric” to today’s society, but in fact, he wrote about a part of the true history. His story telling from a historical point of view is fantastically told. Some of the many things he writes about: the western civilization did shape the rest of the world, uniquely, through the early times of Mesopotamia, through Greek culture, Roman Empire and on to modern eras. Additionally, how the ancient Greek culture survived

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.

The West is another word for the Western world which is involved with different nations determined by the conditions. Most of the west is included with the European origins. The West had so much potential to those traveling that to those individuals it seemed like a new world. The West was a place where many could live great lives. These individuals wanted to move west to secure land and to be prosperous. People would read newspaper stories about the new land and wanted to move their immediately for a better life. African American slaves for examples heard about the west and traveled, risking their lives to get the freedom they deserved. These slaves could start a new life as give something better than they would a slave. Slaves could become

The Western world originated in Europe with Christianity but quickly spread across the whole western side of the world including many races and religions. The west is said to value widespread employment, free thought, equality, assimilation for human rights, and democracy. The European culture grew with an all inclusive ethos and strived to influence other cultures around the world.

In the Western Civilization times the best places to visit are Egypt, Greece and Rome. These three civilizations provided us with amazing technology, architecture as well as fascinating art. With all the similarities and differences of these three places, they each help make the world today a better place in understanding culture and lifestyles, not to mention the history and politics too. Egypt, Greece and Rome had strong and intelligent rulers all from separate eras. Religion was also a large part of these civilizations. Western culture helped shape humankind even today.

In the article by Bartley, it looks at how the West should believe in itself a little bit more and they should see how they are different. The article looks at communication and how it will insure that democracy survives and it mediates our understanding of the world. The article also looks at the “clash of civilizations” and how the conflicts will not be over resources but it will be over the fundamental and often irreconcilable values. This will make the U.S. and the West on the defensive. The article also talks about how there has been a lot of interest in cultural, ethnic and religious values in the Islamic fundamentalism. The article looks at how people in the other countries are being educated in the U.S. There is also a power of prosperity where Western values are becoming an artifact of an exogenous civilization, but a lot of people believe that they are an artifact of economic development itself. At a certain level of prosperity people want power and that the economic development leads to demands for democracy and individual autonomy. The future is no sure thing and it is all about the people.

Western Civilization from 1589 to 1914 had many specific changes that contributed to the structure of the western world before World War I. In the absolutism state sovereignty is embodied in the person of the ruler. Kings were absolute kings and were resposible to no none except god. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries absolute rulers had to respect the fundamental laws of their land. They had to control competing jurisdictions, institutions or groups that were interested in their territory. They regulated religious sects. France of Louis was the classic model of absolutism. Louis XIV, " the sun king," was a devoted Catholic who believed that god had estalblished kings as rulers on the earth. The French language and culture became

Western civilization was born around 500 AD, after the total collapse of the Western Roman Empire, leaving new ideas for Western Civilization to be influenced by many older great civilizations of the ancient

Subsequently taking Western Civilization for the second time this semester’s I must say it was really interesting, and to be honest I never really enjoyed learning about western civilization at all, due to failing it in a previous semester. After this semester I found interesting and I was able to learn a lot so far specifically about the hunter gathers to the agrarian society. It really changed my view and I wanted to learn more. While attending more and more classes what I came to realize is that the way college history is taught it was very different from when learning about history throughout my years of high school. From my perspective when taking western Civilization one you learn about the beginning of man itself, and how the earliest humans evolved through time of discovery of technological advances.

Western Civilization has had a tremendous influence on many different cultures worldwide. From the Hispanic cultures in South and Central America, to the Caribbean islands, and also to the various exotic African countries, and even to the distinguished cultures that reside in the continent of Asia. In many ways than one, these cultures have been molded to be as westernized as they could possibly be without losing their traditional customs indefinitely. They’re religion, fashion sense, and family structures have all been altered in some form so that it could resemble the western nation’s patriarch. Countries in North America and Europe have for centuries traveled to different continents in the world and colonized many nations, as a result of that, many of the customs and traditions of those people have been shaped to be a bit more westernized.