Reconstructing Western Civilization
Reconstructing Western Civilization

Author: Barbara Sher Tinsley

Publisher: Susquehanna University Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 9781575910956

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This is a collection of eleven essays, laced with humor and irony, on the Dawn of Man, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hebrews, Minoans and Mycenaens, classical Greece, Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic world, Rome's Republic and Empire, and several church fathers (Irenaeus, Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine) who influenced the Primitive Church. Tinsley highlights current research while showcasing themes of contemporary as well as ancient significance - misogyny, the manipulation of rhetoric to justify privilege, the contributions of the anonymous to the well-being of the famous, the paradox of progress, the distortion of prophecy, the use and misuse of myth and other media, the exploitation of spiritual, intellectual, physical, and sexual resources, the comforts and perils of provincialism versus the dangers and benefits of organization - spiritual, imperial, or both.

Civilizing the Enemy
Civilizing the Enemy

Author: Patrick Thaddeus Jackson

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2006-06-26

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 9780472099290

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For the past century, politicians have claimed that "Western Civilization" epitomizes democratic values and international stability. But who is a member of "Western Civilization"? Germany, for example, was a sworn enemy of the United States and much of Western Europe in the first part of the twentieth century, but emerged as a staunch Western ally after World War II. By examining German reconstruction under the Marshall Plan, author Patrick Jackson shows how the rhetorical invention of a West that included Germany was critical to the emergence of the postwar world order. Civilizing the Enemy convincingly describes how concepts are strategically shaped and given weight in modern international relations, by expertly dissecting the history of "the West" and demonstrating its puzzling persistence in the face of contradictory realities. "By revisiting the early Cold War by means of some carefully conducted intellectual history, Patrick Jackson expertly dissects the post-1945 meanings of "the West" for Europe's emergent political imaginary. West German reconstruction, the foundation of NATO, and the idealizing of 'Western civilization' all appear in fascinating new light." --Geoff Eley, University of Michigan "Western civilization is not given but politically made. In this theoretically sophisticated and politically nuanced book, Patrick Jackson argues that Germany's reintegration into a Western community of nations was greatly facilitated by civilizational discourse. It established a compelling political logic that guided the victorious Allies in their occupation policy. This book is very topical as it engages critically very different, and less successful, contemporary theoretical constructions and political deployments of civilizational discourse." --Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University "What sets Patrick Jackson's book apart is his attention, on the one hand, to philosophical issues behind the kinds of theoretical claims he makes and, on the other hand, to the methodological implications that follow from those claims. Few scholars are willing and able to do both, and even fewer are as successful as he is in carrying it off. Patrick Jackson is a systematic thinker in a field where theory is all the rage but systematic thinking is in short supply." --Nicholas Onuf, Florida International University Patrick Thaddeus Jackson is Assistant Professor of International Relations in American University's School of International Service.

Civilizing the Enemy
Civilizing the Enemy

Author: Patrick Thaddeus Jackson

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2009-06-25

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0472022288

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For the past century, politicians have claimed that "Western Civilization" epitomizes democratic values and international stability. But who is a member of "Western Civilization"? Germany, for example, was a sworn enemy of the United States and much of Western Europe in the first part of the twentieth century, but emerged as a staunch Western ally after World War II. By examining German reconstruction under the Marshall Plan, author Patrick Jackson shows how the rhetorical invention of a West that included Germany was critical to the emergence of the postwar world order. Civilizing the Enemy convincingly describes how concepts are strategically shaped and given weight in modern international relations, by expertly dissecting the history of "the West" and demonstrating its puzzling persistence in the face of contradictory realities. "By revisiting the early Cold War by means of some carefully conducted intellectual history, Patrick Jackson expertly dissects the post-1945 meanings of "the West" for Europe's emergent political imaginary. West German reconstruction, the foundation of NATO, and the idealizing of 'Western civilization' all appear in fascinating new light." --Geoff Eley, University of Michigan "Western civilization is not given but politically made. In this theoretically sophisticated and politically nuanced book, Patrick Jackson argues that Germany's reintegration into a Western community of nations was greatly facilitated by civilizational discourse. It established a compelling political logic that guided the victorious Allies in their occupation policy. This book is very topical as it engages critically very different, and less successful, contemporary theoretical constructions and political deployments of civilizational discourse." --Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University "What sets Patrick Jackson's book apart is his attention, on the one hand, to philosophical issues behind the kinds of theoretical claims he makes and, on the other hand, to the methodological implications that follow from those claims. Few scholars are willing and able to do both, and even fewer are as successful as he is in carrying it off. Patrick Jackson is a systematic thinker in a field where theory is all the rage but systematic thinking is in short supply." --Nicholas Onuf, Florida International University Patrick Thaddeus Jackson is Assistant Professor of International Relations in American University's School of International Service.

The Collapse of Western Civilization
The Collapse of Western Civilization

Author: Naomi Oreskes

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2014-07-01

Total Pages: 105

ISBN-13: 0231537956

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The year is 2393, and the world is almost unrecognizable. Clear warnings of climate catastrophe went ignored for decades, leading to soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, widespread drought and—finally—the disaster now known as the Great Collapse of 2093, when the disintegration of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet led to mass migration and a complete reshuffling of the global order. Writing from the Second People's Republic of China on the 300th anniversary of the Great Collapse, a senior scholar presents a gripping and deeply disturbing account of how the children of the Enlightenment—the political and economic elites of the so-called advanced industrial societies—failed to act, and so brought about the collapse of Western civilization. In this haunting, provocative work of science-based fiction, Naomi Oreskes and Eric M. Conway imagine a world devastated by climate change. Dramatizing the science in ways traditional nonfiction cannot, the book reasserts the importance of scientists and the work they do and reveals the self-serving interests of the so called "carbon combustion complex" that have turned the practice of science into political fodder. Based on sound scholarship and yet unafraid to speak boldly, this book provides a welcome moment of clarity amid the cacophony of climate change literature.

Judaic Man
Judaic Man

Author: Paul Eidelberg

Publisher: Prometheus Books

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13:

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However, Professor Eidelberg argues, the Greco-Christian tradition contains certain inherent dichotomies - for example, the individual vs. society, freedom vs. authority, morality vs. the law, reason vs. revelation, the physical vs. the spiritual - that have contributed to the malaise of contemporary society.

An Essay on Western Civilization
An Essay on Western Civilization

Author: W. Cunningham

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-28

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 9781330450314

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Excerpt from An Essay on Western Civilization: In Its Economic Aspects It has been my endeavour in this essay to bring out the main economic features in the growth and diffusion of the Civilized Life in Western Europe, to which so many peoples and countries have contributed; I have not aimed at portraying the development of each of the separate polities to which reference is made. Some of the difficulties that have to be faced, in engaging in such a task, have been obvious from the first, and others have been felt more clearly as the work progressed. The chief of these is due to the lack of information. The social and economic side of life was so familiar to their contemporaries, and was often so uneventful, that chroniclers have rarely thought it worth while to describe it particularly. We have to depend on incidental remark, rather than on detailed and deliberate description. This silence is especially perplexing in early times, and renders it very difficult for us to trace the precise connection between one primitive civilization and another. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Development of Western Civilization
The Development of Western Civilization

Author: J. Dorsey Forrest

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-09-27

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9781330608821

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Excerpt from The Development of Western Civilization: A Study in Ethical Economic and Political Evolution This essay represents the expansion of a dissertation offered for the degree of Ph.D. in the University of Chicago. It is the outgrowth of the study of certain present-day problems. Feeling the need of an explanation of the development of the conditions and institutions in which I was immediately interested, I was led backward step by step into an inquiry into social evolution in general. I have become convinced that a genetic explanation must underlie any other explanation. No fact can be understood until it is viewed in relation to the various other facts with which it is functionally connected; but all of these together are not adequately explained except in the light of their evolution. A sufficient statement of the method and purpose of this study is given in the introductory chapter. To cover so vast a field in such a work as this the selection of materials for special examination becomes very difficult. I have not desired to rehearse the more common facts of history; but in tracing the general social movement, I have endeavored to account for the more important facts with which the histories deal. If slight reference is made to some important influence, as that of the Mohammedans, or to some striking activity, as that of the crusaders, it is simply because I think they are sufficiently accounted for in the general statement. Perhaps I should have made more direct application of my point of view to some of these important side movements. Minor counteracting forces and purely individual or local influences have not required treatment. The footnotes contain reasonably full reference to authorities for facts and opinions. I have not thought it desirable to expand them further by citing authorities for statements of facts that have become common property. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

An Introduction to Western Civilization
An Introduction to Western Civilization

Author: George Andrews Hedger

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-01-10

Total Pages: 1150

ISBN-13: 9781334969980

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Excerpt from An Introduction to Western Civilization: Revised The classroom is the real testing ground of a textbook. Six years Of educational experience with n Introduction to Western Civilization has brought to its authors the usual cargo of approval, suggestion, and criticism. The present revision Of the work has been responsive in large measure to the judg ments Of those using the book both here at Cincinnati and else where. The march of events has been even more pressing in its demands. Much water has run under the mill since 1933, when the Introduction was first published. Events whose significance could be seen but dimly six years ago now appear momentous in their portent for the present and the future. They have made necessary radical changes in those chapters dealing with contemporary events and problems in the fields Of economics, politics, and international relations. The revision has been thoroughgoing throughout the volume. The omission of considerable matter found in the first edition has opened the way for additions Of new material designed to enrich the content Of the book and enhance its value for both teacher and student. But with all the omissions and additions the original plan and organization remain unchanged. It is the conviction Of the authors that the arrangement of materials, tested by results measured in terms of the educational aims originally set up, has proved its value. For the information Of those who may be using the volume for the first time we take the liberty Of drawing on the preface to the first edition for a restatement of Objectives. The book makes a modest attempt to correlate selected bodies Of material from the social sciences. The subject matter has been pre pared by men working in the fields Of economics, education, geography, history, literature, political science, and sociology. The character of the work has been dictated largely by the desire to provide an adequate preparation for students who will later enter those fields for more detailed study, but in no sense is the work designed as a substitute for the special courses in the social sciences. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

Reconstructing the Roman Republic
Reconstructing the Roman Republic

Author: Karl-J. Hölkeskamp

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2010-04-11

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 0691140383

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In recent decades, scholars have argued that the Roman Republic's political culture was essentially democratic in nature, stressing the central role of the 'sovereign' people and their assemblies. Karl-J. Hölkeskamp challenges this view in Reconstructing the Roman Republic, warning that this scholarly trend threatens to become the new orthodoxy, and defending the position that the republic was in fact a uniquely Roman, dominantly oligarchic and aristocratic political form. Hölkeskamp offers a comprehensive, in-depth survey of the modern debate surrounding the Roman Republic. He looks at the ongoing controversy first triggered in the 1980s when the 'oligarchic orthodoxy' was called into question by the idea that the republic's political culture was a form of Greek-style democracy, and he considers the important theoretical and methodological advances of the 1960s and 1970s that prepared the ground for this debate. Hölkeskamp renews and refines the 'elitist' view, showing how the republic was a unique kind of premodern city-state political culture shaped by a specific variant of a political class. He covers a host of fascinating topics, including the Roman value system; the senatorial aristocracy; competition in war and politics within this aristocracy; and the symbolic language of public rituals and ceremonies, monuments, architecture, and urban topography. Certain to inspire continued debate, Reconstructing the Roman Republic offers fresh approaches to the study of the republic while attesting to the field's enduring vitality.