HST 111: The West and the World, Pt. I (Dimock): Home

"Civilization (from Latin civilis, ‘belonging to a society’) is an ambiguous term. In its contemporary usage it refers to a unified social system, and is invested with notions of technological advances and cultural complexity characterized by hierarchical organization. The notion of civilization has, therefore, been used both to measure the sophistication of a society, and as a stick to beat those who seem to be less civilized.

Among the evolutionists of the 18th and 19th centuries, civilization was considered the summit of human achievement, the prerogative of Western culture. Although ancient civilizations in Mexico, China, Egypt and India were recognized, the word acquired its ambiguity when used by evolutionists to talk about Western civilization. However, as Mahatma Ghandi wryly pointed out, the notion of a West that was civilized was "a good idea," but it had certainly not been attained."

Civilization. (1993). In K. McLeish (Ed.), Bloomsbury guide to human thought. London, UK: Bloomsbury. Retrieved from http://bristolcc.edu:2048/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/bght/civilization/0?institutionId=2320

Image Source: Lensnmatter. Resurrection of the Parthenon. (2015, March 22). https://flic.kr/p/A9PjLY

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 Photo credit: Gary A.K. Used with permission under CC license (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).