Western culture (sometimes equated with Western civilization) are terms which are used to refer to cultures of European origin, in contrast to "Eastern" or "Oriental" culture. A Civilization is a society in which large numbers of people share a variety of common elements Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic The Orient is a term which simply means the " East " It originated in Western Asia to describe that part of the world This terminology originated as a way of describing what was different about the Graeco-Roman culture and its descendants, in contrast to the older civilizations of Western Asia, which in many ways continued to serve as a model of civilization in the "west". In modern Olympic and amateur Wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling is a particular style and variation A Civilization is a society in which large numbers of people share a variety of common elements Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia.

This terminology is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and technologies. Cultural heritage ("national heritage" or just "heritage" is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or Society Social norms have been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values beliefs attitudes and behaviors Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem acc of traditio which means "a giving up delivering up surrendering" and is used in a number of A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos A political system is a System of Politics and Government. It is usually compared to the Law system, Economic system, Cultural A cultural artifact is a human-made object which gives information about the Culture of its creator and users Technology is a broad concept that deals with a Species ' usage and knowledge of Tools and Crafts and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt Specifically, the term most often implies. . .

• A Graeco-Roman influence, especially concerning rationalism in various spheres of life, including, in political thought, widespread rational arguments averse to monarchical tyranny, and more in favour of democracy and individualism. In modern Olympic and amateur Wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling is a particular style and variation In Epistemology and in its broadest sense rationalism is "any view appealing to Reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286 Political philosophy is the study of questions about the City, Government, Politics, Liberty, Justice, Property, Rights Debate ( American English) or debating ( British English) is a formal method of interactive and position representational Argument. A monarchy is a Form of government in which supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in an individual who is the Head of state, often for life or In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system
• A Judeao-Christian influence in spiritual thinking, at least in references to the Post Classical West. Judeo-Christian (or Judaeo-Christian, sometimes written as Judæo-Christian) is a term used to describe the body of concepts and values which are thought to be held The Post-Classical Era refers to the period of time that immediately followed the Classical Era.

When used in a narrow manner, Eastern Europe, Orthodox Christianity and the ancient Greek speaking world, are sometimes contrasted with what is western, even if they are also sometimes contrasted with what is more truly "eastern". Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to The Eastern Orthodox Church: the Eastern Christian churches of Byzantine

The concept of Western culture is generally linked to the classical definition of the Western world. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings In this definition, Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic and philosophical principles which set it apart from other civilizations. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language The term has come to apply to countries whose history is strongly marked by Western European immigration or settlement, and is not restricted to Western Europe. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology Much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the Western canon. The Western canon is a term used to denote a canon of books and more widely music and art, that has been the most influential in ^[1] Various uses of the concept of Western culture have included, rightly or wrongly, critiques of American culture, materialism, industrialism, capitalism, individualism, commercialism, hedonism, imperialism, communism, Nazism, fascism, racism, modernism, nihilism, nationalism, fundamentalism and post-modernism. The development of the culture of the United States of America — music, cinema, dance, architecture, literature, poetry The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where Commercialism, in its original meaning is the practices methods aims and spirit of Commerce or Business. Hedonism is the Philosophy that Pleasure is of ultimate importance, the most important pursuit Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing is a philosophical position that argues that Existence is without objective meaning Purpose The term nationalism can refer to an Ideology, a sentiment, a form of Culture, or a Social movement that focuses on the Nation Fundamentalism refers to a "deep and totalistic commitment" to a belief in and strict adherence to a set of basic principles (often Religious in nature a reaction Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism

In general, the various criticism of what is western tend to come within the categories of decadence, extremism, and barbarism. Decadence can refer to a personal trait or to the state of a society (or segment of it Extremism is a term used to describe the actions or ideologies of individuals or groups outside the perceived political center of a society or otherwise claimed to violate

Other tendencies that define modern Western societies are the existence of political pluralism, prominent subcultures or countercultures (such as New Age movements), increasing cultural syncretism resulting from globalization and human migration. A society is a Population of Humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive Culture and Institutions Pluralism is in the general sense the acknowledgment of diversity For the term in biology see Subculture (biology. For the song by New Order see Sub-culture (song. Counterculture (also " counter-culture " is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a Cultural group, or New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs often while melding practices of various schools of thought Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones Human migration denotes any movement by Humans from one locality to another sometimes over long distances or

Contents 1 Difficulties with the East-West Terminology 2 History 2.1 The Classical West 2.2 The Medieval West 2.3 The Cold War West 3 Influence of Western culture 4 Music, art, story-telling and architecture 5 Western Scientific and Technological Inventions and Discoveries 6 Contemporary Western culture 6.1 Differences 6.2 Similarities 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 See also

Difficulties with the East-West Terminology

The East–West contrast is sometimes criticized as relativistic and arbitrary. Compare Moral relativism, Aesthetic relativism, Social constructionism, Cultural relativism, and Cognitive relativism. ^[2][3][4] Indeed, by definition, the contrast between Western and non-Western things must change as the peoples being contrasted change throughout their history. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology

The East-West contrast is also criticized for being too poorly defined to be useful. With the advent of increasing globalism, it has recently become more difficult to determine which individuals fit into which category. Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones In some contexts the term "western" is now avoided, where it was once commonplace, or it has been transformed or clarified to fit more precise uses.

However, though it is directly descendent from academic Orientalism and Occidentalism, and other now questioned traditions, the "East–West" distinction arguably remains a changing but useful means of identifying important cultural similarities and differences — both within an increasingly larger concept of local region, as well as with regard to increasingly familiar "alien" cultures. Orientalism refers to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers designers and artists and can also refer to a sympathetic stance The term Occidentalism usually refers to Stereotyped and sometimes dehumanizing views on the so-called Western world, including Europe and the

On the other hand, globalism has, especially since the end of the cold war, spread western ideas so widely that almost all modern countries or cultures are to some extent defined by aspects of western culture which they have absorbed, whether it be Nationalism, Marxism, or even Fundamentalism. Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the The term nationalism can refer to an Ideology, a sentiment, a form of Culture, or a Social movement that focuses on the Nation Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Fundamentalism refers to a "deep and totalistic commitment" to a belief in and strict adherence to a set of basic principles (often Religious in nature a reaction

The West also now includes virtually all of the western hemisphere, Australia and New Zealand, as well as many other colonies and ex-colonies of Europe. The Western Hemisphere, also Western hemisphere or western hemisphere, is a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies West For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island It is the most geographically extensive culture on the planet, and perhaps the first truly global culture. As the bearer of science and the accompanying revolutions of technology, and political debate over the last 500 years it is the dominant human culture at this time of global cultural integration and thus has established itself as a basal element of human civilization with which it is sometimes chauvinistically confused. Chauvinism (ˈʃoʊvɨnɪzəm is extreme and unreasoning Partisanship on behalf of a group to which one belongs especially when the partisanship includes malice and hatred

The best way to understand the East-West terminology requires first perceiving that this is a terminology meant to describe a changing historical contrast. We must look at the differences between different eras where historians use the terminology. . .

History

Further information: History of western civilization

Western culture is neither homogeneous nor unchanging. The history of Western civilization traces its roots back to Classical Antiquity and continues to the present era in Europe, North America, Australia As with all other cultures it has evolved and gradually changed over time. All generalities about it have their exceptions at some time and place. The organisation and tactics of the Greek Hoplites differed in many ways from the Roman legions. The word hoplite ( Greek: hoplitēs; pl hoplitai) derives from hoplon ( plural hopla) meaning an item of armour or equipment thus 'hoplite' For other uses see Legion The Roman Legion (from Latin legio "military levy Conscription," The polis of the Greeks is not the same as the American superpower of the 21st century. A polis ( πόλις, pronunciation, in English-- plural poleis ( πόλεις, pronunciation, in English --is a City, a A superpower is a State with a leading position in the international system and the ability to Influence events and project power on a worldwide scale The gladiatorial games of the Roman Empire are not identical to present-day football. Gladiators (gladiatores "swordsmen" or "one who uses a sword" from la ''gladius'' "sword" were professional fighters in Ancient Rome who fought The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Football is the word given to a number of similar Team sports all of which involve (to varying degrees kicking a Ball with the foot in an attempt to score a The art of Pompeii is not the art of Hollywood. Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum was discovered in the ancient cities around the bay of Naples (particularly of Pompeii and Herculaneum) after extensive Nevertheless, it is possible to follow the evolution and history of the West, and appreciate its similarities and differences, its borrowings from, and contributions to, other cultures of humanity. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus

The Classical West

In Homeric literature, and right up until the time of Alexander the Great, for example in the accounts of the Peloponnesian War of Greeks against Persians, by Herodotus, we see the paradigm of a contrast between the West and East. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash The word paradigm ( Greek:παράδειγμα (paradigmacomposite from para- and the verb δείχνυμι "to show" as a whole -roughly- meaning "example" In the place of the West were the Greeks, living in city states, and tough in resistance against the encroachment of Eastern, for example Trojan or Persian, hedonism and tyranny (both of which are still recognizably Greek words). A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty. Hedonism is the Philosophy that Pleasure is of ultimate importance, the most important pursuit In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly

Nevertheless the Greeks felt they were civilized and saw themselves (in the formulation of Aristotle) as something between the wild barbarians of most of Europe and the soft, slavish Easterners. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. "Barbarian" is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person either in a general reference to a member of a nation or Ethnos perceived Inspired by Eastern example, and yet felt to be different, ancient Greek science, philosophy, democracy, architecture, literature, and art provided a foundation embraced and built upon by the Roman Empire as it swept up Europe, including the Hellenic World in its conquests in the 1st century BC. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system The term Classical architecture has a specific Archaeological meaning relating to the architecture of Classical Greece "Classical literature" redirects here For literature in Classical languages outside the Graeco-Roman sphere see Ancient literature. Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial In the meantime however, Greece, under Alexander, had become the capital of the East, and part of an empire. An empire (from the Latin " Imperium " denoting military Command within the ancient Roman government) is a State that The idea that the Greeks, or now the Orthodox world, are a happy mean between Eastern slavishness and Western barbarism is promoted to this day, for example in Russia, creating a zone which is both Eastern and Western depending upon the context of discussion.

For five hundred years, the Roman Empire maintained the Greek East and consolidated a Latin West. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although Rome, like Alexander was no longer democratic, the idea of democracy remained a part of the education of citizens, as if the emperors were a temporary emergency measure. Eventually the empire came to be officially split into a Western and Eastern part, reviving old ideas of a contrast between an advanced East, and a rugged West.

With the rise of Christianity in the midst of the Roman world, much of Rome's tradition and culture were absorbed by the new religion, and transformed into something new, which would serve as the basis for the development of Western civilization after the fall of Rome. Also, Roman culture mixed with the pre-existing Celtic, Germanic and Slavic cultures, which slowly became integrated into Western culture starting, mainly, with their acceptance of Christianity. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic

The Medieval West

After the fall of Rome much of Greco-Roman art, literature, science and even technology were all but lost in the west. The Decline of the Roman Empire, leading to the Fall of the Roman Empire, or the Fall of Rome, was the end of the Western Roman Empire. Europe fell into political anarchy, with many warring kingdoms and principalities, and evolved into feudalism. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed However, much of the basis of the post-Rome world had been set before the fall of the Empire, mainly through the integrating and reshaping of Roman ideas through Christian thought. The Greek and Roman paganism had been completely replaced by Christianity around the 4th and 5th centuries, since it became the official State religion following the baptism of emperor Constantine I. Ancient Roman religion encompasses the collection of Beliefs and Rituals practised in Ancient Rome in the form of Cult practices Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine Roman Catholic Christianity served as a unifying force in Western Europe, and in some respects replaced or competed with the secular authorities. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' Art and literature, law, education, and politics were preserved in the teachings of the Church, in an environment that, otherwise, would have probably seen their loss. The Church founded many cathedrals, universities, monasteries and seminaries, some of which continue to exist today. This article is about the history and organisation of the cathedral A university is an institution of Higher education and Research, which grants Academic degrees in a variety of subjects This article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. For the life inside monasteries and its historical roots see Monasticism. A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is a specialized and often live-in Higher education institution for the purpose of instructing students In the Medieval period, the route to power for many men was in the Church.

Paradoxically, the Middle Ages, with its tension between Greek reasoning and Levantine monotheism was not confined to the West but also stretched into the old East, in what was to become the Islamic world. Reasoning is the cognitive process of looking for Reasons for beliefs conclusions actions or feelings See also Names of the Levant The Levant (lə'vænt is a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia, roughly bounded on the north by the For the Celtic Frost album see Monotheist (album In Theology, monotheism (from Greek grc [[wiktμόνος μόνος]] Indeed the debate between these two streams of thought which is said to define the west was preserved best there for a while, with Greek literature, and even some Eastern theology, making their way back to Europe via Spain and Italy. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest

The rediscovery of the Justinian Code in the early 10th century rekindled a passion for the discipline of law, which crossed many of the re-forming boundaries between East and West. Roman law is the legal system of Ancient Rome. As used in the West the term commonly refers to legal developments prior to the Roman/Byzantine state's adopting Eventually, it was only in the Catholic or Frankish west, that Roman law became the foundation on which all legal concepts and systems were based. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group Roman law is the legal system of Ancient Rome. As used in the West the term commonly refers to legal developments prior to the Roman/Byzantine state's adopting Its influence can be traced to this day in all Western legal systems (although in different manners and to different extents in the common (Anglo-American) and the civil (continental European) legal traditions). Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive Civil law or Romano-Germanic law or Continental law is the predominant system of law in the world. The study of canon law, the legal system of the Catholic Church, fused with that of Roman law to form the basis of the refounding of Western legal scholarship. Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Anglican Communion of churches The ideas of civil rights, equality before the law, equality of women, procedural justice, and democracy as the ideal form of society, and were principles which formed the basis of modern Western culture. Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Procedural justice refers to the idea of fairness in the processes that resolve disputes and allocate resources Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system A society is a Population of Humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive Culture and Institutions

The West actively encouraged the spreading of Christianity, which was inexorably linked to the spread of Western culture. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Owing to the influence of Islamic culture and Islamic civilization — a culture that had preserved some of the knowledge of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Persia, Greece, and Rome, and improved on them significantly — in Islamic Spain and southern Italy, and in the Levant during the Crusades, Western Europeans translated many Arabic texts into Latin during the Middle Ages. Muslim Culture is a term primarily used in Secular Academia to describe all cultural practices common to historically Islamic peoples Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or The Islamic conquest and rule of Sicily, Malta, and parts of Southern Italy was a process whose origin can be traced back through the general See also Names of the Levant The Levant (lə'vænt is a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia, roughly bounded on the north by the The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents The Renaissance of the 12th century saw a major search by European scholars for new learning which led them to the Arabic fringes of Europe especially to Islamic Later, with the fall of Constantinople and the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire, followed by a massive exodus of Greek Christian priests to Italian towns like Venice, bringing with them as many scripts from the Byzantine archives as they could, scholars' interest for the Greek language and classic works, topics and lost files was revived. The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday May 29, 1453 (Julian Calendar Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Both the Greek and Arabic influences eventually led to the beginnings of the Renaissance. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere From the late 15th century to the 17th century, Western culture began to spread to other parts of the world by intrepid explorers and missionaries during the Age of Discovery, followed by imperialists from the 17th century to the early 20th century. The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans explored Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude

The medieval origins of modern Western culture are: Feudalism (particularly manorialism) and Christianity (juxtaposition of Catholicism and Protestantism). Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed This article is about the medieval system "Manors" redirects here Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Broadly, these are referred to as Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian roots. In modern Olympic and amateur Wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling is a particular style and variation Judeo-Christian (or Judaeo-Christian, sometimes written as Judæo-Christian) is a term used to describe the body of concepts and values which are thought to be held Germanic, Slavic, Celtic, Jewish and Islamic cultures also took part in the formation of the culture of medieval Europe. The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic For the period of Spanish cultural flourishing in the 17th century see Spanish Golden Age. The influence of secular humanism has been profound since the European Renaissance, as well as Enlightenment's thought, Rationalism, romantic ideals and later tendencies such as Modernism, pop culture and various subcultural and countercultural movements. Secular humanism is a humanist philosophy that upholds Reason, Ethics and Justice, and specifically rejects the Supernatural The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century 17th century philosophy in the Western world is generally regarded as being the start of Modern philosophy, and a departure from the medieval approach Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — For the term in biology see Subculture (biology. For the song by New Order see Sub-culture (song. Counterculture (also " counter-culture " is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a Cultural group, or

Western culture has developed many themes and traditions, the most significant of which are:

• Greco-Latin classic letters, arts, architecture, philosophical and cultural tradition, that include a large and vast influence of very important and preeminent authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Herodotus, Cicero or Caesar, as well as a very long mythologic tradition (approximately syncretic to other Mediterranean ones such as Phoenician or Egyptian). Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Marcus Tullius Cicero ( Classical Latin ˈkikeroː usually ˈsɪsərəʊ in English January 3, 106 BC &ndash December 7, 43 BC was a Roman Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs often while melding practices of various schools of thought Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now
• Biblic and Evangelic Judaeo-Christian cultural tradition, as well as part of Christian theology and philosophy, and an abundant tradition on the philosophical discipline of ethics. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin This article is about the canonical books of the New Testament Judeo-Christian (or Judaeo-Christian, sometimes written as Judæo-Christian) is a term used to describe the body of concepts and values which are thought to be held Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life
• Secular humanism, rationalism and Enlightenment thought, as opposed to traditionally preeminent Catholicism and Protestant Christianity, religious and moral doctrines in lifestyle. Secular humanism is a humanist philosophy that upholds Reason, Ethics and Justice, and specifically rejects the Supernatural In Epistemology and in its broadest sense rationalism is "any view appealing to Reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286 The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Though such opposition has not fully ended, it set the basis for a new critical attitude and open questioning of religion, favouring freethinking and questioning of the church as an authority, which resulted in open-minded and reformist ideals inside, such as liberation theology, which partly adopted these currents, and secular and political tendencies such as laicism, agnosticism, materialism and atheism. Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that Beliefs should be formed on the basis of Science and Logic and should not be influenced Liberation theology is a school of Theology within Christianity, particularly in the Roman Catholic Laïcité (laisiˈte is the French concept of a Secular society, connoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs Agnosticism ( Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. Atheism
• A tradition and idea of importance of law which has its roots in Roman law. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Roman law is the legal system of Ancient Rome. As used in the West the term commonly refers to legal developments prior to the Roman/Byzantine state's adopting
• Widespread usage of terms and specific vocabulary borrowed, based or derived from Greek and Latin roots or etymologies for almost any field of arts, science and human knowledge, becoming easily understandable and common to almost any European language, and being a source for inventing internationalized neologisms for nearly any purpose. The following is an alphabetical list of Greek and Latin roots commonly used in English Etymology is the study of the History of Words &mdash when they entered a language from what source and how their form and meaning have changed over time A neologism (from Greek neo = "new" + logos = "word" is a word that although devised relatively recently in a specific time period has been It is not rare for full loan Latin phrases or expressions, such as in situ, grosso modo or tempus fugit, to be in usage, many of them giving name to artistic or literatic concepts or currents. The usage of such roots and phrases is standardized in giving official scientific names for biological species (such as Homo sapiens or Tyrannosaurus rex). In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Tyrannosaurus ( or, meaning 'tyrant lizard' is a Genus of Theropod Dinosaur. This shows a reverence for these languages, called classicism. For the works or study of works from classical antiquity see Classics Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to
• Generalized usage of some form of the Latin or Greek alphabet. The Greek alphabet (Ελληνικό αλφάβητο is a set of twenty-four letters that has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early The latter includes the standard cases of Greece and other derived forms, such as Cyrillic, the case of those Slavic Eastern countries of Christian Orthodox tradition, historically under the Byzantine and later Russian czarist or Soviet area of influence. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The Cyrillic alphabet (səˈrɪlɪk also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters is actually a family of Alphabets, subsets of which are used by Families of churches Eastern Christians have a shared tradition but they became divided ( Schism) during the early centuries of Christianity in disputes about Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Other variants of it are encountered for Gothic and Coptic alphabets, that historically substituted older scripts, such as Runic, and Demotic or Hieroglyphic systems. This article is about the 4th century alphabet of the Gothic bible The Coptic alphabet is the script used for writing the Coptic language. Hieroglyph ( Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " or hieroglyphics ( = grc-Grek τὰ ἱερογλυφικά
• Scholasticism. Scholasticism was the dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Latin West in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th 13th and 14th centuries
• Renaissance arts and letters. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere
• The scientific method. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena
• The Western canon. The Western canon is a term used to denote a canon of books and more widely music and art, that has been the most influential in
• Natural law, human rights, constitutionalism, parliamentarism (or presidentialism) and formal liberal democracy in recent times — prior to the 20th century, most Western governments were monarchies, yet. Natural law or the law of nature ( Latin: lex naturalis) is a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by Nature and that Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled For the revolt in Brazil, see Constitutionalist Revolution. The term Constitutionalism is a word with a variety of meanings A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which A presidential system is a System of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the term separately from the Legislature The term "liberal" in "liberal democracy" does not imply that the government of such a democracy must follow the political ideology of
• A large influence, in modern times, of many of the ideals and values developed and heritaged from Romanticism, and to some extent Modernism, Surrealism and related vanguards. The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also modern times) is the period of history that followed the Middle Ages between c Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early-1920s and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members
• Several subcultures (sometimes deriving into urban tribes) and countercultural movements, such as hippie lifestyle or New Age, that have left several influences on contemporary mainstream or subcultural tendencies (some of them, especially in the mainstream, can become merely aesthetical). For the term in biology see Subculture (biology. For the song by New Order see Sub-culture (song. For the term in biology see Subculture (biology. For the song by New Order see Sub-culture (song. Counterculture (also " counter-culture " is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a Cultural group, or The Hippie Subculture was originally a Youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called

The Cold War West

During the Cold War, the West–East contrast became synonymous with the competing governments of the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 "Westernization" was a persistent theme of the Russian Empire and through its influence and that of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European client states these regions have been incorporated into "the west" albeit as a periphery or marchland. Westernization or occidentalization (from occident, see wiktionary) is a process whereby societies come under or adopt the Western The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Mark from the Old English mearc and march (or various plural forms of these words derived from the Frankish word marka ("boundary" In the Post-communist regime of Vladimir Putin, contrast with the West once again became common in Russia and its "near abroad". Post-Communism is a name sometimes given to the period of political and economic Transition in former Communist states located in parts of Europe and The word regime (occasionally spelled " régime " particularly in older texts refers to a set of conditions most often of a Political nature Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (; born 7 October 1952 in Leningrad, USSR; now Saint Petersburg, Russia was the second President of Russia Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The 'near abroad' ( ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye) is a term used by Russian Foreign policy to describe the Post-Soviet

Influence of Western culture

The architecture of the White House deliberately recalls ancient Greek temples. See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence

Japan has adopted some aspects of Western culture, whilst maintaining strong Japanese traditions. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

Elements of Western culture have had a very influential role on other cultures worldwide. People of many cultures, both Western and non-Western, equate modernization (adoption of technological progress) with westernization (adoption of Western culture). Some members of the non-Western world have suggested that the link between technological progress and certain harmful Western values provides a reason why much of "modernity" should be rejected as being incompatible with their vision and the values of their societies. However even these types of argument referring to imperialism, and stressing the importance of freedom from it, and the relativist argument that different cultural norms should be treated equally, are all very Western in origin. Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude Compare Moral relativism, Aesthetic relativism, Social constructionism, Cultural relativism, and Cognitive relativism. Also Marxism, sometimes seen as an alternative to Western culture, comes from the West. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

What is generally uncontested, is that much of the technology and social patterns which make up what is defined as "modernization" were developed in the Western world. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings Whether these technological and social patterns are intrinsically part of Western culture, is more difficult to answer. Many would argue that the question cannot be answered by a response from positivistic science and instead is a "value" question which must be answered from a value system (e. Positivism is the Philosophy that the only authentic knowledge is knowledge that is based on actual sense experience Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding g. philosophy, religion, political doctrine). Nonetheless, much of anthropology today has shown the close links between the physical environment and daily activities and the formation of a culture (the findings of cultural ecology, among others). Cultural ecology studies the relationship between a given Society and its natural environment - the life-forms and Ecosystems that support its Lifeways

Music, art, story-telling and architecture

Some cultural and artistic modalities are also characteristically Western in origin and form. While dance, music, story-telling, and architecture are human universals, they are expressed in the West in certain characteristic ways.

The symphony has its origins in Italy. A symphony is a Musical composition, often extended and usually for Orchestra. Many important musical instruments used by cultures all over the world were also developed in the West; among them are the violin, piano, pipe organ, saxophone, trombone, clarinet, and the theremin. The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers The pipe organ is a Musical instrument that produces sound when pressurized air (wind is driven through a series of pipes, controlled by a keyboard The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical- bored transposing Musical instrument considered a member of the Woodwind The trombone is a Musical instrument in the brass family Like all brass instruments it is a lip-reed Aerophone: sound is produced when the player’s The clarinet is a Musical instrument in the Woodwind family The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word The solo piano, symphony orchestra and the string quartet are also important performing musical forms. The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string brass woodwind sections and possibly a percussion section as well A string quartet is a Musical ensemble of four String instruments &mdash usually two Violins a Viola and Cello &mdash or a piece

The ballet is a distinctively Western form of performance dance. Ballet is a formalized form of Dance with its origins in the French court further developed in France and Russia as a Concert dance The ballroom dance is an important Western variety of dance for the elite. Ballroom dance refers collectively to a set of Partner dances which originated in Germany and are now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the The polka, the square dance, and the Irish step dance are very well-known Western forms of folk dance. The polka is a fast lively Central European Dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas Square dance is a Folk dance with four couples (eight dancers arranged in a square with one couple on each side beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going Step dance is the generic term for dance styles where the footwork is the most important part of the dance Folk dance is a term used to describe a large number of dances mostly of European origin that tend to share the following attributes originally danced in about the

Historically, the main forms of western music are European folk, classical, rock and roll and country. See also Folk (disambiguation, Volk (disambiguation Folk is one of the Germanic roots that mean "(of the people" or "our Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity

While epic literary works in verse such as the Mahabarata and Homer's Iliad are ancient and occurred worldwide, the novel as a distinct form of story telling only arose in the West (with the possible exception, though isolated, of the Japanese Tale of Genji, five greats epics of Tamil and Persian Shahnama) in the period 1200 to 1750. The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century around the peak of the Heian Period Photography and the motion picture as a technology and as the basis for entirely new art forms were also developed first in the West. The soap opera, a popular culture dramatic form originated in the United States first on radio in the 1930s, then a couple of decades later on television. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. The music video was also developed in the West in the middle of the twentieth century. A music video is a Short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music most commonly a Song with lyrics

The arch, the dome, and the flying buttress as architectural motifs were first used by the Romans. An arch is a structure that spans a space while supporting weight (e A dome is a common structural element of Architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a Sphere. A flying buttress, or arc-boutant, is a specific type of Buttress usually found on a religious building such as a Cathedral. Important western architectural motifs include the Doric, Corinthian, and Ionic columns, and the Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, and Victorian styles are still widely recognised, and used even today, in the West. The Doric order was one of the three '''orders''' or organizational systems of Ancient Greek or Classical architecture; the other two Canonical The Corinthian order is one of the Classical orders of Greek and Roman Architecture, characterized The Ionic order column forms one of the three '''orders''' or '''organizational systems''' of Classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Regional characteristics of Romanesque architecture|Romanesque art Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which See also Gothic art Gothic architecture is a style of Architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of Architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. Much of Western architecture emphasises repetition of simple motifs, straight lines and expansive, undecorated planes. A modern ubiquitous architectural form emphasising this characteristic, first developed in New York and Chicago, is the skyscraper. A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable Building. There is no official definition or a precise cutoff height above which a building may clearly be classified as a skyscraper

Oil painting is said to have originated by Jan van Eyck, and perspective drawings and paintings had their earliest practitioners in Florence. Oil painting is the process of painting with Pigments that are bound with a medium of Drying oil — especially in early modern Europe Linseed oil Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck (jɑn vɑn ɛik (before c 1395 &ndash before July 9, 1441) was an Early Netherlandish painter active Perspective (from Latin perspicere to see through in the graphic arts such as drawing is an approximate representation on a flat surface (such as paper of an image as it is perceived In art, the Celtic knot is a very distinctive Western repeated motif. ||-||-||-||-||} Celtic knots are a variety of (mostly endless) Knots and stylized Graphical representations of knots used for decoration, adopted Depictions of the nude human male and female in photography, painting and sculpture are frequently considered to have special artistic merit. Nudity is the state of wearing no Clothing. The term' "nudity" can also occasionally be used to refer to wearing significantly less clothing than expected Realistic portraiture is especially valued. A portrait is a painting, photograph, Sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person in which the face and its expression is predominant In Western dance, music, plays and other arts, the performers are only very infrequently masked. There are essentially no taboos against depicting God, or other religious figures, in a representational fashion.

Many forms of popular music have been derived from African-Americans' folklore and music during 20th and 19th centuries, initially by themselves, but later played and further developed together with White Americans, British people, and Westerners in general. Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located These include Jazz, Blues and Rock music (that in wide sense include Rock and roll and Heavy Metal branches), Rhythm and blues, Funk, Rap, and also Ska or Reggae in an African-Caribbean, Jamaican background. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended Soul music, Soul Rapping (also known as emceeing, MCing, spitting, or just rhyming) is the Rhythmic spoken delivery of Rhymes wordplay and Ska ( pronounced /ska/ or in Jamaican Patois /skja/ is a Music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and which was the precursor Reggae is a Music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s Jamaica (ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə} is an Island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. Several other related or derived styles were developed and introduced by western pop culture such as Pop, Pop-Rock, Technopop, Dance, Techno or Rave, Nu metal, etc. Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Pop rock is a hybrid of Pop music and Rock music that uses catchy pop style with light lyrics over top of guitar-based songs Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic Techno is a form of Electronic dance music (EDM that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, USA during the mid to late 1980s A rave (or rave party) is a term in use since the 1980s to describe Dance Parties (often all-night events Nu metal (sometimes named new metal or nü metal) is a musical genre that emerged in the mid 1990s which fuses influences from grunge and Alternative

Western Scientific and Technological Inventions and Discoveries

A feature of Western culture is its focus on science and technology, and its ability to generate new processes, materials and material artifacts.

It was the West that first developed steam power and adapted its use into factories, and for the generation of electrical power. The Otto and the Diesel internal combustion engines are products whose genesis and early development were in the West. Today Internal combustion engines in cars, Trucks motorcycles aircraft construction machinery and many others most commonly use a four-stroke cycle. A diesel engine is an Internal combustion engine which operates using the Diesel cycle (named after Dr Nuclear power stations are derived from the first atomic pile in Chicago (1942). Nuclear power is any Nuclear technology designed to extract usable Energy from atomic nuclei via controlled Nuclear reactions This article is a subarticle of Nuclear power. A nuclear reactor is a device in which Nuclear chain reactions are initiated controlled The electrical dynamo, transformer, electric motor, and electric light, and indeed most of the familiar electrical appliances, were inventions of the West. In Electricity generation, an electrical generator is a device that converts Mechanical energy to Electrical energy, generally using Electromagnetic A transformer is a device that transfers Electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled Electrical conductors

Communication devices and systems including the telegraph, the telephone, radio, television, communication and navigation satellites, mobile phone, and the Internet were all invented by Westerners. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS is the standard generic term for satellite navigation systems that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks The pencil, ballpoint pen, CRT, LCD, LED, photograph, photocopier, laser printer, ink jet printer and plasma display screen were also invented in the West. The cathode ray tube (CRT is a Vacuum tube containing an Electron gun (a source of electrons and a Fluorescent screen with internal or A laser printer is a common type of Computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper Inkjet printers operate by propelling variably-sized droplets of liquid or molten material ( Ink) onto almost any sized page A plasma display panel (PDP is a type of Flat panel display now commonly used for large TV displays (typically above 37-inch or 940 mm

Furthermore, ubiquitous materials including concrete, aluminum, clear glass, synthetic rubber, synthetic diamond and the plastics polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC and polystyrene were invented in the West. Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag Glass in the common sense refers to a Hard, Brittle, transparent Solid, such as that used for Windows many Elastomer Synthetic rubber is any type of artificially made Polymer material which acts as an Elastomer. Synthetic diamond (also known variously as lab-created, manufactured, lab-grown or cultured diamond) is a term used to describe Diamond Polyethylene or polythene ( IUPAC name poly(ethene) is a Thermoplastic commodity heavily used in consumer products (notably the Polypropylene or polypropene ( PP) is a Thermoplastic Polymer, made by the Chemical industry and used in a wide variety of applications Polystyrene ˌpɒliˈstaɪriːn ( IUPAC Polyphenylethene is an aromatic Polymer made from the aromatic Monomer Styrene Iron and steel ships, bridges and skyscrapers first appeared in the West. Nitrogen fixation and petrochemicals were invented by Westerners. Nitrogen fixation is the process by which Nitrogen is taken from its natural relatively inert molecular form (N2 in the atmosphere and converted into Petrochemicals are chemical products made from raw materials of Petroleum or other Hydrocarbon origin Most of the elements, as well as the current notion of elements themselves were created in the West. A chemical element is a type of Atom that is distinguished by its Atomic number; that is by the number of Protons in its nucleus.

The transistor, integrated circuit, memory chip, and computer were all first seen in the West. In Electronics, a transistor is a Semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals Microchipsjpg|right|thumb|200px|Microchips ( EPROM memory with a transparent window showing the integrated circuit inside The ship's chronometer, the screw propeller, the locomotive, bicycle, automobile, and aeroplane were all invented in the West. Longitude by Chronometer, known by mariners as "Long by Chron" is an astronomical Navigation method of calculating an observer's position on earth A propeller is essentially a type of fan which transmits power by converting Rotational motion into Thrust for propulsion of a vehicle such as an A locomotive is a railway Vehicle that provides the motive power for a Train. The bicycle, cycle, or bike is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind Eyeglasses, the telescope, the microscope and electron microscope, all the varieties of chromatography, protein and DNA sequencing, computerised tomography, NMR, x-rays, and light, ultraviolet and infrared spectroscopy, were all first developed and applied in Western laboratories, hospitals and factories. An electron microscope is a type of Microscope that uses Electrons to illuminate a specimen and create an enlarged image Chromatography (from Greek χρώμα chroma, color and γραφειν"graphein" to write is the collective term for a family of Laboratory Proteins are found in every cell and are essential to every biological process Protein structure is very complex determining a protein's structure involves first The term DNA sequencing encompasses biochemical methods for determining the order of the Nucleotide bases Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine Computed tomography (CT is a Medical imaging method employing Tomography. X-radiation (composed of X-rays) is a form of Electromagnetic radiation. Spectroscopy was originally the study of the interaction between Radiation and Matter as a function of Wavelength (λ

In medicine, vaccination, anesthesia, MRI, hormonal contraception, and all the pure antibiotics were created in the West. Vaccination is the administration of Antigenic material (the Vaccine) to produce immunity to a disease Anesthesia, or anaesthesia (see spelling differences; from Greek grc αν- an-, "without" and grc αἲσθησις Hormonal contraception refers to Birth control methods that act on the hormonal system In modern usage an antibiotic is a Chemotherapeutic agent with activity against Microorganisms such as Bacteria, fungi or Protozoa The method of preventing Rh disease, the treatment of diabetes, and the germ theory of disease were discovered by Westerners. Rh disease (also known as Rh (D disease, Rhesus disease, RhD Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn, Rhesus D Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn or Diabetes mellitus (ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz or /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtəs/ /məˈlaɪtəs/ or /ˈmɛlətəs/ often referred to simply as diabetes ( Ancient Greek: grc The germ theory, also called the pathogenic theory of medicine, is a Theory that proposes that Microorganisms are the cause of many Diseases. The eradication of that ancient scourge, smallpox, was led by a Westerner, Donald Henderson. Smallpox is an Infectious disease unique to humans caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor. Donald Ainslie Henderson, known as DA Henderson, (born September 7, 1928) is an American Physician and Epidemiologist, whose work Radiography, Computed tomography, Positron emission tomography and Medical ultrasonography are important diagnostic tools developed in the West. For medical radiography see Radiology Radiography is the use of X-rays to view unseen or hard-to-image objects Computed tomography (CT is a Medical imaging method employing Tomography. Positron emission tomography ( PET) is a Nuclear medicine imaging technique which produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the So were the stethoscope, electrocardiograph, and the endoscope. The stethoscope (from Greek στηθοσκόπιο, of στήθος stéthos - chest and σκοπή skopé - examination) is an acoustic Endoscopy means looking inside and typically refers to looking inside the body for medical reasons using an instrument called an endoscope. Vitamins, hormonal contraception, hormones, insulin, Beta blockers and ACE inhibitors, along with a host of other medically proven drugs were first utilised to treat disease in the West. A vitamin is an Organic compound required as a Nutrient in tiny amounts by an Organism. Hormonal contraception refers to Birth control methods that act on the hormonal system Hormones (from Greek ὁρμή - "impetus" are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body Insulin is a Hormone with intensive effects on both metabolism and several other body systems (eg vascular compliance Beta blockers (sometimes written as β-blocker) are a class of drugs used for various indications but particularly for the management of Cardiac arrhythmias ACE inhibitors, or inhibitors of '''A'''ngiotensin-'''C'''onverting '''E'''nzyme, are a group of Pharmaceuticals that are used primarily in treatment of Hypertension The double-blind study and evidence-based medicine are critical scientific techniques widely used in the West for medical purposes. The blind method is a part of the Scientific method, used to prevent research outcomes from being influenced by either the Placebo effect or the Observer Evidence-based medicine (EBM aims to apply Evidence gained from the Scientific method to certain parts of medical practice

In mathematics, calculus, statistics, logic, vector, tensor and complex analysis, group theory and topology were developed by Westerners. Calculus ( Latin, calculus, a small stone used for counting is a branch of Mathematics that includes the study of limits, Derivatives Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data. Mathematical logic is a subfield of Logic and Mathematics with close connections to Computer science and Philosophical logic. History The word tensor was introduced in 1846 by William Rowan Hamilton to describe the norm operation in a certain type of algebraic system (eventually Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of Mathematics investigating functions of Complex Group theory is a mathematical discipline the part of Abstract algebra that studies the Algebraic structures known as groups. Topology ( Greek topos, "place" and logos, "study" is the branch of Mathematics that studies the properties of In biology, evolution, chromosomes, DNA, genetics and the methods of molecular biology are creatures of the West. eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and Protein that is found in cells. Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) is a Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known Genetics (from Ancient Greek grc-Latn genetikos, “genitive” and that from grc-Latn genesis, “origin” a discipline of Biology, is Molecular biology is the study of Biology at a molecular level In physics, the science of mechanics and quantum mechanics, relativity, thermodynamics, and statistical mechanics were all developed by Westerners. Mechanics ( Greek) is the branch of Physics concerned with the behaviour of physical bodies when subjected to Forces or displacements Quantum mechanics is the study of mechanical systems whose dimensions are close to the Atomic scale such as Molecules Atoms Electrons This page is about the scientific concept of relativity for philosophical or sociological theories about relativity see Relativism. In Physics, thermodynamics (from the Greek θερμη therme meaning " Heat " and δυναμις dynamis meaning " Statistical mechanics is the application of Probability theory, which includes mathematical tools for dealing with large populations to the field of Mechanics The atom, nucleus, electron, neutron and proton were all unveiled by Westerners. History See also Atomic theory, Atomism The concept that matter is composed of discrete units and cannot be divided into arbitrarily tiny The nucleus of an Atom is the very dense region consisting of Nucleons ( Protons and Neutrons, at the center of an atom The electron is a fundamental Subatomic particle that was identified and assigned the negative charge in 1897 by J This article is a discussion of neutrons in general For the specific case of a neutron found outside the nucleus see Free neutron. The proton ( Greek πρῶτον / proton "first" is a Subatomic particle with an Electric charge of one positive

Westerners are also known for their explorations and adventures of the globe and space. The first expedition to circumnavigate the Earth was by Westerners, as well as the first to set foot on the South Pole, the first human in space and the first human to orbit the Earth and the first to land on the moon. Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão de Magalhães fɨɾˈnɐ̃ũ dɨ mɐgɐˈʎɐ̃ĩʃ Fernando de Magallanes (Spring 1480 &ndash April 27 1521 Mactan Island, Cebu The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth. The landing of robots on Mars and on an asteroid, and the Voyager explorations of the outer planets were all achievements of Westerners. NASA 's Mars Exploration Rover ( MER) Mission is an ongoing robotic mission of exploring Mars, that began in 2003 with the sending of The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker renamed after its launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene M Voyager 2 is an unmanned Interplanetary Spacecraft launched on August 20, 1977.

Contemporary Western culture

Differences

There are many differences between the regions of the western culture, for example between Northern or Latin America or Western Europe. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' For instance, religion has waned considerably in Western Europe, where many are agnostic or atheist. Agnosticism ( Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the Atheism 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. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands However, religious belief in the United States is very strong, about 75-85% of the population,^[5] as also happens in most of Latin America.

Similarities

In comparison to many other cultures in the world, western cultures tend to emphasize the individual. However, western societies have traditionally been more socially collective, giving a major importance to social majority traditions or tendencies (such as customs, protocols, beliefs or fashion), that often tended to be prescripted over minority or individual ones, especially when hardly divergent, which could often cause intolerance, prejudices and social exclusion. Collectivism is a term used to describe any moral political or social outlook that stresses human Interdependence and the importance of a Collective, rather than However, romantic, democratic ideas, that have had an important, growing impact in late modern society, have caused an increasing degree of respect and tolerance toward differences, as well as an important support or expectancy of originality, that manifests in artistic criteria. Thus, such differences are usually understood as a matter of diversity, rather than as a source of threat or conflict. This sometimes even becomes respect for other cultures and interest for them to be studied and learn from, driving to new Scholastic currents, as well as subcultural and countercultural ones. Scholasticism was the dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Latin West in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th 13th and 14th centuries For the term in biology see Subculture (biology. For the song by New Order see Sub-culture (song. Counterculture (also " counter-culture " is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a Cultural group, or

Western cultures in modern are often considered to be amongst the most individualistic cultures in the world. Much of this respect for difference and individual liberties remain, however, still theoretical, in many ways, among mainstream society, when the individual factor encounters a strong opposition from social customs and consensus, and thus resists to be accepted or understood. This situation, anyways, has tended to change among most progressive sectors of society, as a consequence of the many social and counter-cultural movements that the last decades have come to see.

Creativity and the expression of the individual is commonly encouraged. New subcultures, art, and technology constantly emerge. Furthermore, capitalism which is found in almost every western country, supports a highly individualistic ideology.

The forms of government usually adopted in western societies, as a part of a wider, nowadays ruling social-economical liberal capitalist structure, are multi-party parliamentary or presidential (also 'congressional') systems, frequently referred to as figurative democracy, which favors some sort of majority consensus when coming to adopt collective decisions. Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which A presidential system is a System of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the term separately from the Legislature A presidential system is a System of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the term separately from the Legislature Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system

Notes

References

• Jones, Prudence and Pennick, Nigel A History of Pagan Europe Barnes & Noble (1995) ISBN 0-7607-1210-7.
• Ankerl, Guy [2000]. Global communication without universal civilization, INU societal research Vol. 1: Coexisting contemporary civilizations : Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. Geneva: INU Press. ISBN 2-88155-004-5.  
• Barzun, Jacques From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life 1500 to the Present HarperCollins (2000) ISBN 0-06-017586-9.
• Merriman, John Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Present W. W. Norton (1996) ISBN 0-393-96885-5.
• Derry, T. K. and Williams, Trevor I. A Short History of Technology: From the Earliest Times to A. D. 1900 Dover (1960) ISBN 0-486-27472-1.
• Eduardo Duran, Bonnie Dyran Native American Postcolonial Psychology 1995 Albany: State University of New York Press ISBN 0791423530
• McClellan, James E. III and Dorn, Harold Science and Technology in World History Johns Hopkins University Press (1999) ISBN 0-8018-5869-0
• Stein, Ralph The Great Inventions Playboy Press (1976) ISBN 0-87223-444-4.
• Asimov, Isaac Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology: The Lives & Achievements of 1510 Great Scientists from Ancient Times to the Present Revised second edition, Doubleday (1982) ISBN 0-385-17771-2.
• Pastor, Ludwig von, History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages; Drawn from the Secret Archives of the Vatican and other original sources, 40 vols. Ludwig Pastor, later Freiherr von Campersfelden ( January 31, 1854 – September 30, 1928) was a German historian and a diplomat The Vatican Secret Archives ( Latin: Archivum Secretum Apostolicum Vaticanum) located in Vatican City, is the central repository for all of the acts promulgated St. Louis, B. Herder (1898ff. )
• Walsh, James Joseph, The Popes and Science; the History of the Papal Relations to Science During the Middle Ages and Down to Our Own Time, Fordam University Press, 1908, reprinted 2003, Kessinger Publishing. James Joseph Walsh MD LLD LittD ScD (1865&ndash1942 was an American physician and author born in New York City. ISBN 0-7661-3646-9 Reviews: P.462 [1]

Further reading

• Stearns, P. N. (2003). Western Civilization in World History. New York: Routledge.

See also

• Eastern culture
• History of western civilization
• Western World
• Westernization
• Globalization
• The Enlightenment
• Industrial Revolution
• Max Weber
• Michel Foucault
• Norbert Elias
• Death of the West
• Death, Desire and Loss in Western Culture by Jonathan Dollimore

The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various Cultures social structures and philosophical systems of " the East " The history of Western civilization traces its roots back to Classical Antiquity and continues to the present era in Europe, North America, Australia The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings Westernization or occidentalization (from occident, see wiktionary) is a process whereby societies come under or adopt the Western Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (maks 'veːbɐ (21 April 1864 &ndash 14 June 1920 was a German political economist and sociologist who was considered Michel Foucault ( (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984 was a French philosopher, Historian, Intellectual, Critic and Sociologist. Norbert Elias ( June 22, 1897 &mdash August 1, 1990) was a German sociologist of Jewish descent who later became The Death of the West How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Culture and Civilization is a 2001 book by Paleoconservative commentator Patrick Death Desire and Loss in Western Culture is a sociology book written by Jonathan Dollimore, published in 1998 Jonathan Dollimore (born 1948 is a British Sociologist and social theorist in the fields of Renaissance literature (especially drama Gender

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