THE WEST AND THE MODERN WORLD

What is the West? The Age of Enlightenment and the Age of Revolutions

2005-12-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

What is the West? The Age of Enlightenment and the Age of Revolutions

Justin Maker
The West and the Modern World
Dr. Rahman
12.19.2005

Final Paper

What is the West? When we think of the “Western world” what do we think of? How do we define what the West is? To me the West is no longer a region of the world. It has evolved into an ideology, a way of thinking that influences the way people live. The West is characteristically defined in various aspects of life. Western concepts and philosophies have deep roots in science, religion, politics, sociology, philosophy, and number of other things that encompass our everyday lives as westerners.
Over time the West and western concepts and philosophies have developed to a point to where we are today. Over that time, it is interesting to look at what things the West has introduced to the world that have been progressive (for the benefit of humanity) and digressive (against the benefit of humanity) to get an adequate measure if western ideas and philosophies have been something that has benefited humanity overall. Progressively, the West has contributed great things to the world. To be more specific, western ideas surrounding humanity, the rights of man, and general democratic values seem to be the most important contributions to the world. Without early westerners from the Enlightenment period like John Locke, John Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith maybe here in America we wouldn’t emphasize education, or maybe we would not have a clear idea of what sovereignty was. Better yet, maybe we would not have a clear idea of what the essence of capitalism is all about. In my opinion the enlightenment period was probably the most progressive period in history with respect to the issues that existed during that time and the ideas and concepts that were introduced as a result.
As we all know, the bad comes with the good. Just as the West proved to be progressive in the Enlightenment period, their digressive nature can be critically examined in today’s day and age. I think that currently, in 2005 the big digressive divide in our world is not so much culture, as it is politics. Setting the West aside for the moment and focusing solely on America, we here in our own country are not “united.” When it comes down to sharing the same ideas and being able to be agreeable on major issues that effect us as people, we Americans have a difficult time dealing with. Move further and begin to discuss some of the political issues we have abroad with terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11, America does not seem to have made many “progressive” moves in order to combat this problem in any recent time.
Thus far, our western idea of spreading democracy throughout the world has not served us well in the eyes of many people. Along with the West’s spoiling idea of spreading democracy, the impact of war and technology has not been a western progressive either. This idea of spreading democracy encompasses weapons, war, and colonization that much of the rest of the world does not agree with. In the case with America being the western superpower, the idea of spreading democracy is something that is digressive in that it seems to be dividing the world as opposed to uniting it.
Quite often when we look what the West is from the outside looking in, we get a much different perspective of what we are a part of and what we represent to the rest of the world. Looking back to Chapter 22 in the text entitled Age of Revolutions there is a section called the American Declaration of Independence. In that document there is a passage that states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Gregory, 2006, 310) This single statement describes what the West stands for in total. The nature of freedom is the one single western ideal that has stood the test of time and has permeated itself into everything that we know as American citizens. This concept or ideal of equality stems from wanting liberation and the need for individualism, which is another western philosophy. To me, this statement embodies what the West is to become, the idea that people grow and have the desire to grow to become the best, or their idea of what the best is they can be.
This western idea of liberation and revolution is found in another document entitled Declaration of the Rights of Man the Citizen also found in Chapter 22. In this document we see the course of western thought parallel that to what is found in the American Declaration of Independence in that people are desperately seeking freedom, but more so seeking sort of a legal and political freedom and a voice in society. “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights” (Gregory, 2006, 316) is the first line of this declaration which sums up everything this document stands for. The people of France were looking for equality and fairness from within their government. They wanted the power to have a voice and make changes from within their society.
These two examples of how western philosophy transformed itself into a revolution are direct examples of how the West has progressively moved in a direction that was beneficial to the people as a whole. Both of these revolutions were predicated on the battles of oppression and the inevitable desires for freedom and independence for the people. Unfortunately, the result of seeking freedom and independence usually ends up in some form of war, which brings death to people, which ultimately can be rendered digressive action. As stated before, with any good comes some bad, and in both these cases the revolution or the war was for the greater good.
To reconstruct the idea of the West, I guess it would be safe to say that the West is a socio-political force in the world that is motivated by change for the greater good of the people. The concept of the West seems to be democratic in nature in that it was originally constructed by the people for the people. Without the existence of the concept of the West it is hard to see how change in society would ever have come about. Without the West would America still be ruled by England? Would we have ever known of revolutionizing ourselves to become independent individuals? Would we know of religious freedom? Perhaps we would not have.
The Age of Enlightenment and the Age of Revolutions were two pivotal periods in the history of the world and for western civilization. Without these two particular periods in history I do not think that we would be talking about the West in the context that we are. If I were to criticize anything about the West is what it has become to be today. The West today is too often thought of as greedy, self-indulgent, ignorant part of society. As a westerner myself I think that it is important to look at history to see where we have come from to figure out where we are going. Now that we have achieved our sense of freedom and independence where do we go from here? Do we continue to digress and force others to believe in the same system we believe? Or do we sit back and let the rest of the world dictate themselves?
Voltaire once wrote, “…let us not mutually hate and destroy each other in the midst of peace; but rather make use of the few moments of our existence to join in praising, in a thousand different languages, from one extremity of the world to the other, thy goodness, O all merciful creator, to whom we are indebted for that existence.” (Gregory, 2006, 281-82) The West should remember these words when dealing with the rest of the world. Make peace not war. No more digression, just progression. If the West and its ideals and values held strict to these words in think there would only be progression. Like I stated before the West is no longer just a region. It is a power, it’s a force that has influenced and dictated our life for centuries in the past and for centuries to come. The west is the modern world.

REFERENCES

Gregory, Candace. (2006). Documents of Western Civilization, Canada:
Thomson Wadsworth

FINAL ESSAY "The West: Progressive and Retrogressive Forces"

2005-12-19T23:53:00.000-05:00

Post your final essays here.

28.5] A Great Beginning, Lenin

2005-12-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

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28.4] Versailles Treaty: Part VIII Reparation

2005-12-05T09:22:00.000-05:00

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28.3] The Fourteen Points, Woodrow Wilson

2005-12-05T09:21:00.000-05:00

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28.2] Poems of Siegfried Sassoon

2005-12-05T09:20:00.000-05:00

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28.1] Poems of Wilfred Owen

2005-12-05T09:19:00.000-05:00

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27.3] The Antichrist, Frederich Nietzsche

2005-12-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

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27.2] "A Dream is a Fulfillment of a Wish, Sigmund Freud

2005-12-05T09:13:00.001-05:00

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27.1] Natural Selection, T.H. Huxley

2005-12-05T09:13:00.000-05:00

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26.4] The Jewish Question and Zionism, Theodore Hertzel

2005-12-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

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26.3] Militant Suffragists, Emile Pankhurst

2005-12-05T09:10:00.000-05:00

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26.2] Protest Against State Regulation of Vice, Joseph Butler

2005-12-05T09:09:00.000-05:00

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26.1] Speech on Labor Reform, Otto von Bismark

2005-12-05T09:05:00.001-05:00

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25.4] Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert

2005-12-05T09:05:00.000-05:00

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25.3] Catholic Rights in Ireland, Daniel O' Connell

2005-12-05T09:04:00.000-05:00

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25.2] Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels

2005-12-05T09:03:00.000-05:00

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25.1] Proclamation to the People of Venezuela, Simon Bolivar

2005-12-05T09:01:00.000-05:00

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24.4] Sorrows of Young Werther, Goethe

2005-12-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

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24.3] Poems of William Wordsworth

2005-12-05T08:59:00.000-05:00

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24.2] Principles of Utility, Jeremy Bentham

2005-12-05T08:58:00.000-05:00

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24.1] An Essay on the Principle of Population, Thomas Malthus

2005-12-05T08:56:00.000-05:00

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23.4] The Railroads: Newspaper Accounts of Openings and Accidents

2005-12-05T08:55:00.000-05:00

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23.3] Living Conditions of the Working Class, Edwin Chadwick

2005-12-05T08:54:00.000-05:00

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23.2] An oration on Child Labor, Michael Sadler

2005-12-05T08:53:00.000-05:00

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23.1] Women in the Coal Mines

2005-12-05T08:51:00.000-05:00

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Fahrenheit 9/11 Comments

2005-12-01T15:40:00.000-05:00

Post your comments here.

Dr. Rahman, I figured I would create a topic since there seemed to be people who are ready to post.

TOPICS FOR FINAL ESSAY, DUE by Wednesday 11/30 midnight.

2005-11-28T18:57:00.000-05:00

Please post ideas for your Final Essay. Others will comment.

MUSEUM PAPERS

2005-11-15T14:55:00.000-05:00

Post your Museum Paper here. Post by Friday November 18, 2005.

GROUP PROJECT: TASK FORCE ON INDUSTRIALIZATION/FRANCE

2005-11-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

Post the results of your findings here, by Monday November 18, 2005.

22.5] Proclamations, Pierre Toussant L'Ouverture

2005-10-17T14:48:00.000-04:00

Comment on the significance of this proclamation.

22.4] Women's March on Versailles

2005-10-17T14:46:00.000-04:00

Comment on the role of women in the French Revolution. What were their views of social change?

22.3] Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

2005-10-17T14:44:00.000-04:00

Compare this text to Thomas Jefferson's Declaration. How do they differ?

22.2] What is the Third Estate?, Abbe Sieyes

2005-10-17T14:43:00.000-04:00

Comment on this major document of the French Revolution.

22.1] American Declaration of Independence

2005-10-17T14:39:00.000-04:00

Comment on the philosophy of this document. What sources of knowledge influenced the author (Thomas Jefferson) to produce this text?

21.4] Ashkenazi Jews of Poland, Solomon Maimon

2005-10-10T14:56:00.000-04:00

Comment on this excerpt.

21.3] Marriage of Figaro, Beaumarchais

2005-10-10T14:54:00.000-04:00

Comment on the play in relation to the life of the working class.

21.2] Of the Club, Richard Steele

2005-10-10T14:49:00.000-04:00

Comment on Steele's thoughts about women.

21.1] Clarissa, Samuel Johnson

2005-10-10T14:47:00.000-04:00

Comment on the excerpt from Johnson's novel. Use the accompanying questions to guide you through.

20.4] Gulliver's Travels: Why States Go To War, Jonathan Swift

2005-10-10T14:44:00.000-04:00

Whys do states go to war, according to Swift?. Is this true in today's world? Why?

2.3] The Spirit of the Laws, Baron de Montesquieu

2005-10-10T14:42:00.000-04:00

Comment on this major work of the Enlightment Period.

20.1] Memoirs, Catherine the Great

2005-10-10T14:40:00.000-04:00

Based on the accompanying questions, comment on the selections from the memoirs.

20.2 Thomas Paine, Common Sense

2005-10-08T23:37:00.000-04:00

Hi guys, sorry I am posting this so late, but I have had a really hard time understanding this chapter. I am going to give a summary to the best of my ability.

Thomas Paine was born in England in 1737, but despite being born there he became very outspoken on the independence of America. In 1776 he published Common Sense, a pamphlet calling for the overthrow of monarchies and the rise of republics.

Paine felt that man and how man acts within society should be a natural process, and government interrupts that process. This is why he acts against monarchy, a rule in which a king or queen has rule over a kingdom. A republic, on the other hand, allows the citizen to have supreme power and say. This type of rule will allow man to have more freedom, in turn, making society a more natural place. This would be the deism in speaking out in Paine, the belief in which human morality and reason should come from humans themselves and not from someone who rules over them.

Paine also refers to colonial America having enemies only because we still under Great Britain, but when we finally gain our freedom America will not be at odds with other European nations. When America does gain freedom from Great Britain, Paine reveals that it would be best to form alliances with other European countries for commercial purposes. Trade will always be our protection against invasion because Europe wants America a free port. In Paine’s opinion, as long as we can keep an open and positive trade relationship with nations in Europe we will have the protection from being taken over.

In the future, we will learn to live in peace with Britain because if we, as a country, cannot forgive, we would be “deceiving ourselves,” and the future relationship with Britain will be “forced and unnatural,” which is against Paine’s deist beliefs.

Paine’s thoughts are logical and make a lot of sense. I feel that for the most part present day America has accomplished most of what Paine had expected. Our society is determined for and by the people, though at this time there seems to be a lot of disorder and chaos in the world, we still have our voices. There are places in this world, for example the Middle East, where women have no day in their everyday lives, from choosing their outfits to choosing their daily activities. According to Paine this would not be natural and should not be the way people’s lives should be lead. I feel that Paine had many great ideas that have helped our country become what it is today.

19.5] On Toleration, Voltaire

2005-10-03T14:23:00.000-04:00

Comment on Voltaire's idea of religious faith and toleration.

18.3] Letters on the Existence of God, Isaac Newton

2005-10-03T14:16:00.000-04:00

Comment on Newton's idea of God.

18.2] Condemnation and recantation of Galileo

2005-10-03T14:15:00.000-04:00

Comment on this issue of philosophical significance.

18.1] Copernican Theory

2005-10-03T14:13:00.000-04:00

Comment on this early revolution in scientific thinking.

19.4] Mercantilism, Adam Smith

2005-10-03T13:50:00.000-04:00

Comment on Smith's idea of human nature and economics

19.3] The 'Encyclopedie', Jean Le Rond D'Alembert

2005-10-03T13:48:00.000-04:00

Commnet on Alembert's work.

19.2] On Sovereignty, Jean Jacques Rousseau

2005-10-03T13:47:00.000-04:00

Comment on Rousseau's idea of general will.

19.1] Some Thoughts Concerning Education, John Locke

2005-10-03T13:28:00.000-04:00

Comment on John Locke's idea of education, and education.

19.1- John Lock: Some Thoughts Concerning Education

2005-09-29T07:49:00.000-04:00

To understand John Lock and his general method of education a young gentlemen, we must understand the time in which he taught. The Enlightenment is often referred to as the age of reason. The period is where Europe was breaking out of the Dark Ages of superstitions, religion and tyranny and moving toward a new school of thought, intellectual movement of rationality.

John Lock focused his studies on epistemology, a branch of philosophy that focuses on nature, origin and the scope of knowledge. (Source: Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke ) While many enlightenment philosophers believed that humanity was a fundamental part of nature, John Lock declared that humanity was shaped by nature. Lock's idea of nature building knowledge through experience leads him to develop his famous theory on the blank slates. Lock explains that children are strangers of all we are acquainted with, and at first everything is unknown to them (blank slate).

Children's curiosity is their desire for knowledge. That is why we always hear the same questions coming from a child's mouth; "What is it" and "What does it do" or better yet the infamous question "Why". John Lock expresses his theories on how a parent should answer these questions and help expand the child's love for knowledge. He further explains that answering these questions in an honest and proactive way while also encouraging them to ask questions will influence the child's whole course of education.

Parents should answer these questions in a serious manner that suits the capacity of the child’s age and knowledge. No matter how foolish or unimportant the question may seem, Lock stresses us to explain the matter he/she desires to know. Lock further explains that in order to have a child grow into a fully enlightened individual, his/her enquiries are not to be slighted and if they are treated with neglect, children will learn to neglect themselves and others. This is an example of how an environment influences an individual, if they are surrounded by neglect, they will eventually adopt the traits of the environment.

How to answer a child's question of "What is it"?
"This ordinarily means nothing but the name; and therefore to tell them how it is called, is usually the proper answer to that demand."

How to answer a child's question of "What is it for"?
"This should be answered truly and directly. The use of the thing should be told, and the way explained, how it serves to such a purpose, as far as their capacities can comprehend it and you shouldn't stop answering questions on that subject until you have given them all the satisfaction they are capable of."

John Lock and Discipline:
John Lock recommends that children who make excuses for things that they do should be warned to tell the truth, if the child persists with lies, the child must be reprimanded. However, if the child confesses and is honest he/she must be commended on his/her ingenuity and the parent must ignore the fault. The parent would then never have to revisit the fault or mention it to the child again since he/she would be in love with ingenuity and his/her honesty will become habitual.

John Lock on God:
In order for a child to fully develop into an educated man, he/she must understand that God governs all things, hears and sees everything, and to always love and obey him.

18:4 Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy

2005-09-24T19:13:00.000-04:00

A summary for Sept 26, 2005

This essay is about Margaret Cavendish. She was a prominent female scientist that lived in the mid 1600's. She conducted research and published a paper on the properties of "bodies" or things in nature and the effects of temperature, in terms of freezing and thawing, were relational to the make up of the object and its environment. An example would be: if you took a gallon of ice cream and mixed salt into it the salt would melt it. However, if you put that same gallon container of ice cream in a bucket and surrounded it with salt it would make it freeze harder. (In fact you can make ice cream by placing ingredients in a can and using salt in an exterior container).

Her thought process revolves around every natural objects "inner motion". It sounded to me as if she were refering to its atomic energy always trying to return to it's natural state. She initially uses the idea of something thawing out and how that varies depending on the variation of external heat applied, that the object itself has a certain amount of internal energy it will expend trying to return to it's normal state (thawed). If too much heat is applied "the motions of the frozen parts endeavour to imitate the motions of the heat...which being opposite....become irregular, in so much as to cause most frozen parts a dissolution of their internal natural figure". I can equate this to thawing a thanksgiving turkey. If you thaw it in cold water it may take longer but will thaw properly. If you tried to thaw it by applying heat it would be rendered useless for consumption.

This is a very heady article and I suggest you try to read through it for class.

The West & The World

2005-09-23T11:43:00.000-04:00

What is the West? The west in this case refers to the region of land in the western hemisphere of the world, and with it, the vast cultures, ideologies, traditions, values, and ways of life it brings. The west is a vague term for the complex and in some cases different culture that exists on one side of the globe, that shares many similar ways of life with the rest of the global community. Is it purely a geographical concept? No, this wouldn't be a purely geographical concept, though that would be one aspect of it. The western world is located geographically "west" of the other regions, such as Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia, however, the "West" in this case, refers to everything else that the culture brings with it such as their technological advances and current ways of living, politics, the economy, and the same conflicts that they face which can be seen and related to worldwide. How has the concept of the West shaped the modern world? The concept of the west shaped the modern world by providing its vast consciousness with the global community, and sharing its own culture, and positive aspects of the thriving civilization as an example for other cultures to learn, share, and grow upon.Is the "West" synonymous with the idea of "American Empire"?Why, or why not? It's almost obvious that the "west" can be thought of as being synonymous with the idea of "American Empire," because it is currently the most successful, and well known region, but generally this subject should focus on every aspect of the western life including other countries and their views and cultures as well. Even though I'm sure the subject will cover that, and will even expand and cover more important happenings of history, the "American Empire" will definitely get its share of attention.

In response to 9/11 video...

2005-09-20T20:15:00.000-04:00

I'm not quite sure what we are supposed to write on here. I am assuming it's our opinions and thoughts in response to things done/said in class. In this past class, we watched a video about September 11th. We were also asked to separate ourselves from the emotional aspect of it and think scientifically. I have to be honest, that is very hard for me to do.
The obvious links to science would be the planes. Technology and scientific advances have brought us airplanes, navigation, and the ability to learn how to fly. I also believe if we link science and architecture, we will learn we have not advanced enough to create buildings to withstand the heat the world trade center did (not that we thought we'd ever have to).
Again, it's very hard for me to think scientifically about that day. I think of the destruction and the rescue effort and I don't think science... I think manpower. Although science continues to bring us worlds ahead, there will always be ways of using that knowledge can cause us harm.

-Sara

Introduction Response

2005-09-20T12:17:00.000-04:00

When we refer to "the West", we are literally referring to the land masses that, when depicted on a Eurocentric world map, comprise the left half of the globe. However, the concept of "the West" is not purely a geographical concept. What "the West" essentially connotes has a much more specific application; namely, the United States and Western Europe. Usually what "the West" refers to is a distinct empire; a nod to the global contribution of wealth, power, and advancment that has been born of, and thrived in, these industrialized nations. The "West" has indeed shaped the modern world and continues to do so; mostly because the countries that exist under this umbrella are the same countries which possess most of the world's riches, resources, and decision-making authority.

INTRODUCTION

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The second of a two semester sequence, this course covers the historical development of the Western civilization from the Age of Enlightenment to the present.

Our topics of discussion will include the following: The Scientific Revolution, The Enlightenment Period, The Industrial revolution, Age Romanticism, Nationalism, The Rise of Nation-States, Colonialism and Imperialism, The Age of Mass Consumption, and finally The current period of Deconstructionism in Global Socio-Political Construction.

Focus areas:
1. Broad cultural history (periodization)
2. Formation of cultural heritage (phenomena of complex evolving systems)

Enduring Questions:

Our exploration will be guided by the following enduring question/inquiry themes:

-How has the “West” been defined and redefined? -How is the West constructed? -How has Science, Reason, and ideas of Humanity shaped the concept of the West? -How has the concept of the West change through the development of technology and consciousness, and through the historical march of capitalism? -How has the West been reconstructed as a consequence of colonialism? -How has the rest of the world developed in accordance with the ideological framework of "The West"? -Who benefits from the process of globalization?

Let us now post comments on the following questions:

What is the West?
Is it purely a geographical concept?
How has the concept of the West shaped the modern world?
Is the "West" synonymous with the idea of "American Empire"?
Why, or why not?

Discuss these questions, drawing information from and your understanding of our introductory lecture.