The Uniqueness of Western Civilization

Ricardo Duchesne

ISBN 10: 9004192484 / ISBN 13: 9789004192485

Published by Brill, NL, 2011

About this Item

This extensively researched book argues that the development of a libertarian culture was an indispensable component of the rise of the West. The roots of the West's superior intellectual and artistic creativity should be traced back to the aristocratic warlike culture of Indo-European speakers. Among the many fascinating topics discussed are: the ascendancy of multicultural historians and the degradation of European history; China's ecological endowments and imperial windfalls; military revolutions in Europe 1300-1800; the science and chivalry of Henry the Navigator; Judaism and its contribution to Western rationalism; the cultural richness of Max Weber versus the intellectual poverty of Pomeranz, Wong, Goldstone, Goody, and A.G. Frank; change without progress in the East; Hegel's Phenomenology of the [Western] Spirit; Nietzsche and the education of the Homeric Greeks; Kojeve's master-slave dialectic and the Western state of nature; Christian virtues and German aristocratic expansionism.

Seller Inventory # LU-9789004192485

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Uniqueness of Western Civilization
• Publisher: Brill, NL
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004192484
• ISBN 13: 9789004192485
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 1015 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This extensively researched book argues that the development of a libertarian culture was an indispensable component of the rise of the West. The roots of the West's superior intellectual and artistic creativity should be traced back to the aristocratic warlike culture of Indo-European speakers. Among the many fascinating topics discussed are: the ascendancy of multicultural historians and the degradation of European history; China's ecological endowments and imperial windfalls; military revolutions in Europe 1300-1800; the science and chivalry of Henry the Navigator; Judaism and its contribution to Western rationalism; the cultural richness of Max Weber versus the intellectual poverty of Pomeranz, Wong, Goldstone, Goody, and A.G. Frank; change without progress in the East; Hegel's Phenomenology of the [Western] Spirit; Nietzsche and the education of the Homeric Greeks; Kojeve's master-slave dialectic and the Western state of nature; Christian virtues and German aristocratic expansionism.

About the Author

Ricardo Duchesne, Ph.D (1994) in Social & Political Thought, York University, is Professor of Sociology at The University of New Brunswick, Saint John, Canada. He has published numerous articles on the rise of the West.