W1 Capstone Summary
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W1 Capstone Summary
The term “Western civilization” refers to a collection of European cultures that share shared cultural ideals, philosophical underpinnings, and ancestral beliefs. Essentially, the concept is that those cultures have a shared history that has influenced their evolution. This idea is frequently used in opposition to so-called Eastern civilization to describe the fundamental contrasts between European and Asian cultures. The most crucial aspect of Western civilization to comprehend is that it is characterized by the notion of a common legacy or shared cultural roots (Assmann, 2011). Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian influences are the two fundamental influences that formed the foundation of Western civilization. Two of Europe’s earliest significant, established civilizations, the Greeks and the Romans, were the first important impacts on what would become a Western civilization. The Greeks created Europe’s first great cities and committed their existence to philosophy, the arts, and learning. The Romans improved on this and aided in formalizing it into a system that was used all through Europe. A Judeo-Christian inheritance, shaped partially by Jewish tradition but mostly by the Christian branch of Judaism, is the second primary influence of Western civilization. Numerous Western schools of ethics and behaviors are based on Christian morals and values, which have influenced everything from sexual behavior to one’s role in society. In Western cultures, Judeo-Christian beliefs have also influenced a powerful binary outlook.
Three influential ideas that I found interesting from this week’s readings include slavery, antinatalism, and abortion, and infanticide.
Slavery is defined as a situation in which one person is owned by another. Slaves were treated as property, or chattel, by the law and were denied most of the privileges that free people had. Slavery was fairly common in Western Civilization. Slaves were the lifeblood of most Western Civilizations (Davis, 2000). It was important for the formation of many civilizations, whether via bondage or as a prisoner of war. To hold the city-states functioning, the land relied on agricultural workers and prisoners of war to offer services. After three years of servitude, slaves in certain situations were given the choice of being liberated.
Antinatalism is the belief that it is wrong to give birth to new humans since doing so will do them harm. Antinatalists believe that childbirth has a detrimental effect. Antinationalism is not a novel concept. It is an old philosophical view, despite its recent (modest) comeback. Antinatalist ideas have been found in ancient Greek philosophy, Manichaeism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, among other places (Coates, 2014). Marcionites, Encratites, Cathars, and Bogomils were among the heretical gnostic Christian groups that held this worldview.
Lastly, the controversy about whether abortion or infanticide is morally acceptable has sparked a flurry of responses from those who want to expound on the subject. Giubline & Minerva (2013) expanded on the practice of infanticide by renaming it “after-birth abortion.” Nevertheless, their claim that infanticide should be redefined might be regarded as deceptive to society, in my view, since infanticide is not the same as abortion. The practice of killing infants has become a tough issue to discuss since it seems ethically repulsive at first glance. However, it continues to be complex when individuals consider particular subtleties in real-life situations.
References
Assmann, A. (2011). Cultural memory and Western civilization: Functions, media, archives. Cambridge University Press.