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Proposition: “Western Civilization” does not signify a coherent political, ethical, or philosophical program.
Aquinas, Marx, Homer, Jesus, Nietzsche, Benedict, Hobbes & Plato etc. mark rival traditions & ways of life.
The main use of this term today in US is to ...
Aquinas, Marx, Homer, Jesus, Nietzsche, Benedict, Hobbes & Plato etc. mark rival traditions & ways of life.
The main use of this term today in US is to ...
2/
…fight culture wars.
For e.g. West Civ excludes multiculturalists as not temporally established (i.e. not "classic”) or not part of learning about ourselves (i.e. not one of "us"). Race can enter here.
In reality though, civilizational identity doesn’t demarcate a polity.
…fight culture wars.
For e.g. West Civ excludes multiculturalists as not temporally established (i.e. not "classic”) or not part of learning about ourselves (i.e. not one of "us"). Race can enter here.
In reality though, civilizational identity doesn’t demarcate a polity.
3/ Even less does "West Civ" demarcate a coherent individual identity.
There is *no such thing* as "Western man" for the simple reason that no coherent identity can embody: Hobbes-Aristotle-Jesus-Nietzsche. That would require multiple personalities, not one.
So ...
There is *no such thing* as "Western man" for the simple reason that no coherent identity can embody: Hobbes-Aristotle-Jesus-Nietzsche. That would require multiple personalities, not one.
So ...
4/ … the question “which way Western Man?” is deeply confused. Addressing a no-body (u-topos). There is no person to whom to pose such a question.
Ah, but of course the question is posed all the time! To whom is it addressed? (A hint for students of politics…)
Ah, but of course the question is posed all the time! To whom is it addressed? (A hint for students of politics…)
5/ One must learn to belong & even die for "Western Civ." Since 9/11 learning this highly abstract concept has been used to mobilize global war on other "civilizations."
I talk about the mobilization of this concept at length in the last chapter of my book *WE BUILT REALITY.*
I talk about the mobilization of this concept at length in the last chapter of my book *WE BUILT REALITY.*
