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The School of Athens |
A general word or two about the blog.
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| Western Civilization Montage |
1. The title of the blog is Learning Western Civilization. The blog will be devoted to learning about Western Civilization, a very broad topic. Particularly, we will be learning about what made Western Civilization what it is (and importantly, also, what it used to be, and what it may be in the future). We will learn about the empires and kingdoms, wars and battles, kings and princes, philosophers and theologians, scientists and inventors. They all make up the study of Western Civilization. Already, by delineating the above list, we have begun the instruction. Because, by listing these ten categories, we have automatically ascribed to them an importance in our study above poets and actors, slaves and peasants, magicians and necromancers, farmers and craftsmen, theaters and plays. This is deliberate. This is brings us to a point best discussed early on. That is, that although knowledge generally and history specifically is about facts, or more precisely, the pursuit, accumulation and presentation of facts, the decision about which of the facts is relevant and which are not may be arbitrary, Before one gets to the part about interpreting facts, which is obviously subjective, one must decide which facts to report on, and which to ignore. It thus behooves me to say from the start that this blog will make no pretense at being a comprehensive history of anything. Rather it is a narrow study of Western Civilization, or the West, and which parts of it I consider to be important, meaningful, or interesting. Notwithstanding that, an effort will be make to convey to the reader a sense of what is fact and what is the writer's opinion.
2. This blog will cover Western Civilization. Western Civilization has various components and facets, and we will in the future discuss exactly how Western Civilization is to be analyzed to gain a proper understanding of it. The major tool is history. The view of history can be applied to other fundamental aspects of Western Civilization. One example of that is philosophy. The West has studied the major branches of philosophies, in a manner that is so broad and deep, that it is mind-boggling. In the future we discuss why the West's advancement of philosophy, like its advancements in science and liberal humanism (among other things) is unique in the world. Nothing comes close. Generally, we will attempt to model our discussion of philosophy on Bertrand Russell's famous book The History of Western Philosophy (which we will also discuss later). That is: we will speak about how philosophy developed from one era and school of thought to another, and what were the local conditions that impacted it were.
4. We discussed in section one of this short piece about the difficulty in ascertaining which facts are important and which are not. We also briefly touched upon the question of how to interpret history. The question of how to interpret history is an interesting one, and one that we will hopefully discuss further on. We could begin our learning of Western Civilization without having an exact methodology for this, provided we make an effort not to pigeonhole ourselves too badly. But for the purpose of getting some understanding about what manner of issues are raised regarding the question of interpreting history, let us very briefly speak about some of the discussion on this. On the macro level, there could the question of how to view the changes in society. Marx gives one answer. Another popular answer is the Whig view of history. There are others. There is much discussion about if a specific era is a progression or regression from the era before it. A prime example of this is what is commonly called the Dark Ages. Many object to it being called the Dark Ages. Rodney Stark, who has written the most splendid book on Western Civilization (which we will discuss in the future) makes a convincing argument that the Dark ages was a time of development, progress, philosophy, and invention. For now, until we can shed more clarity on it, we shall continue to refer to the Middle Ages as the Dark Ages. Speaking of the Dark Ages brings us to another aspect of historical interpretation: that of dating. Historians are constantly trying to date things, ranging from specific events such as battles and births to general eras. So, for example, when did the Dark Ages begin, and when did it end? Did it start with the sack of Rome (which one?)? Did it end with the sack of Constantinople? Or is it just simpler to say that the Dark Ages lasted from 500-1500 AD? We will not settle this matter at this early stage, if ever. There are also questions of historical causes. What caused certain things. A classic example of this is the question of what was the primary cause (or causes) of the American Civil War. Was it because of: slavery; states rights; union tariffs and other economic policy; or cultural differences? In the future I intend to write on this, and hopefully convince the reader that it was in fact slavery that was the primary cause of the Civil War. A final type of historical interpretation is that of Moral interpretation. Judging the morality of a certain country waging war, enslaving a population or assassinating a foreign leader is something that inflames passions like no other historical matter. We shall address this as well.
5. We will discuss similar introductory matters in the next few posts.
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