Human nature and Western civilization - Essay Example

Human Nature and Western Civilization This essay covers two aspects of things: human nature and the western civilization. Both concepts are quite difficult to grasp a both are modern-day constructs that can be interpreted in various ways, depending on where your principles stand. Take for example, human nature. What is human nature? Is it different from human behavior? I do not think so. Human nature is affected by both genetic and experiential factors. People develop just the way they are because of the social circumstances they were born in and in the context of their genetic potential. Now each person is born into a social and cultural setting: Community, family, social class, language and religion are all affecting a person’s nature, behavior and how he sees the world, by means of instruction, rewards and punishment, and example. This setting includes home, school, neighborhood, and also, perhaps, local religious sects. Then there are experiences. The child’s behavior will also be modified by the peers, relatives, family, media and even entertainment. How individuals will respond to all these influences will not be predictable. There is, however, some substantial similarity in how individuals respond to the same pattern of influences—that is, to being raised in the same culture. Furthermore, culturally induced behavior patterns, such as speech patterns, body language, and forms of humor, become so deeply imbedded in the human mind that they often operate without the individuals themselves being fully aware of them. With that knowledge of how human nature is, let’s take a look at Western Civilization. What is Western Civilization? Western civilization is a western concept that is made during the Mercatilism Period. Here is why. West. The term “Western” suggests geography so we may start by asking where “the West” referred to in the phrase “Western Civilization” is located? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. First of all, “the West” is not a specific place like Minnesota or Europe that one can point to on a map. It is instead a relative designation which locates a place only in relation to some other location. In other words, to be in “the West” means to be west of some other point that is not “the West.” The term west isn’t even spatially designated. No one can call a place West. Civilization - what does it mean? Around three hundred years ago European intellectuals, inspired by the astonishing cultural changes they had witnessed over the previous century, began to develop the concept of “civilization” as a way of describing the differences they perceived between their manner of understanding the world and that of other peoples. These intellectuals were convinced that their fellow Europeans had recently discovered the one true way of understanding nature, including human nature, and that they had done so by liberating themselves from the prejudices, superstitions and dogmatic ignorance of those that had preceded them. The label “civilization” was born in this context as a term of collective description connoting the “advanced” beliefs, practices, and cultural habits which the Europeans had acquired. For Europeans “civilization” was the benefit they had received from the intellectual upheavals which had overturned medieval barbarism and ignorance. Similarly, when Europeans began to travel around the globe on their many voyages of discovery and conquest, they carried their notion of “civilization” with them, using it to describe the differences they saw between their manner of viewing things and those of the people they encountered. The idea of “Western Civilization” was thus born when Europeans began to employ the new concept of “civilization” to contrast the European approach to life and nature (which they believed to be the one, true, “modern” way of viewing things) with that of non-Europeans. In this respect, the concept of “Western Civilization” emerged in tandem with the idea of the “barbarian,” the “savage,” and the “primitive” since the former only acquired its distinctive meaning through an implied comparison with the latter. It became specifically “Western” civilization largely because its European inventors associated ignorance and barabarism with those to their east. Hence for the Europeans to call their particular manner of viewing the world “Western Civilization” was to mark its superiority over the views of the “savage East.” With that scenario in your mind, we can now tell what motivates humans for them to have acted the way they acted throughout history. Obviously, humans are motivated by power, as mentioned in why the term “Western” stuck in history. Power by means of having more money against other “western” countries – that lead to colonizing territories in the “east”. War ensued because of the race for more power. This, in turn, made leaders think of various ways of managing their people by obtaining leadership and ruling systems. There was a monarchical form of government during the renaissance and then it progressed to having totalitarian form of government during world wars. Imperialism, democracy, fascism all grew from this need to be powerful. Although spurred by need, we also have to say that human nature is frail and weak. We are easily influenced by the need for material wealth and power. We are quite emotional which leads to poor decisions. For example, communism would not work in actuality because there will never be equality as we are wont to be jealous with other people have. It’s just human nature to think that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It’s not just about material wealth. One can get jealous of the other because of his family, of his friends, etc. Then again, how one handles his emotions is determined by his society and his genetic predisposition as mentioned. In the end though, we can determine that power struggle and that desire to be the leader of the pack still governs the motivations of people in the course of human history. May it be from the deep dirges of history or with different forms of government, humans will be humans and will continue to have the same weaknesses, just different manifestations as dictated by time. Reference: Perry, M. Western Civilization Ideas Politics and Society. Cengage Learning, January 2012. Blainey G; A Very Short History of the World; Penguin Books, 2004 Yenne, W. Alexander the Great: Lessons from History's Undefeated General. Palmgrave McMillan, 2010 Wilken, R L. The Spirit of Early Christian Thought. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. Davies, N. Europe: A History. Oxford University Press. 1996. Bavaj, Riccardo: "The West": A Conceptual Exploration , European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, 2011, retrieved: 18 November 2013. Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan, "Conservatism", Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics, Third Edition, Oxford Univeristy Press 2009/ McKay, John P.; Hill, Bennett D.; Buckler, John; Ebrey, Patricia Buckley; Beck, Roger B.; Crowston, Clare Haru; Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. A History of World Societies: From 1775 to Present . Eighth edition. Volume C – From 1775 to the Present. . Bedford/St. Martin's: Boston/New York. 2009. Read More