Religion and Ethics Forum

Religion and Ethics Discussion => Philosophy, in all its guises. => Topic started by: Nearly Sane on March 19, 2024, 02:00:32 PM

Title: 'The history of the West is not quite what you learned in school'
Post by: Nearly Sane on March 19, 2024, 02:00:32 PM

A rather over excited review from The Economist of the book How the World Made the West by Josephine Quinn. Inyeresting that the concept of 'civilisations' is wrong but 'cultures' are fine.

I'm always worried about something when for a mark of quality people cite the amount of footnotes.


https://archive.is/EeEX4

Title: Re: 'The history of the West is not quite what you learned in school'
Post by: jeremyp on March 20, 2024, 10:25:53 AM

From reading the review (I will probably never get round to reading the book), the thesis seems reasonable. The problem is, I think, that the idea she attacks:

Quote

it [is] impossible to understand history without classifying humanity into mutually hostile civilisations between which, “during most of human existence”, contact has been “intermittent or non-existent”.

is something of a straw man.