Western Civilization: a definition

"From the perspective of intellectual and cultural content, Western civilization represents an understanding and acceptance of the following: the laws of logic; the concept of causality and, consequently, of a universe ruled by natural laws intelligible to man; on these foundations, the whole known corpus of the laws of mathematics and science; the individual's self-responsibility based on his free will to choose between good and evil; the value of man above all other species on the basis of his unique possession of the power of reason; the value and competence of the individual human being and his corollary possession of individual rights, among them the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness; the need for limited government and for the individual's freedom from the state; on this entire preceding foundation, the validity of capitalism, with its unprecedented and continuing economic development in terms of division of labor, technological progress, capital accumulation and rising living standards; in addition, the importance of visual arts and literature depicting man as capable of facing the world with confidence in his power to succeed, and music featuring harmony and melody."



- Dr. George Reisman, Professor of Economics at Pepperdine University's School of Business and Management in Los Angeles.

Excerpted from an article, "Education and the Racist Road to Barbarism" in The Intellectual Activist, Volume V, No. 4, April 30, 1990.



"Western Civilization" does not mean "White Civilization."

Any rational person would realize that this has nothing whatsoever to do with race or national origin, and that this definition includes a variety of peoples including parts of Greece and the Muslim civilization* of the Middle Ages. The latter was, at the time, a prosperous civilization, with respect for science, art, free trade, and often, a surprising tolerance of other cultures and religions. At the same time, the Europeans of the Dark Ages were largely superstitious and barbarian, and for the most part, did not subcribe to the values listed above. They were called the "Dark Ages" for a reason. In any case, by the definitions listed above, parts of the Muslim world had a better claim back then to being the repository of Western Culture than the Europeans did.

Of course, things have changed considerably since then, and large parts of the Muslim world have abandoned these values.

Things may change in the future. Unless we in the U.S. act to uphold these values, two hundred years from now "Western Civilization" may be centered in some other part of the world, or off-world entirely, instead of in the U.S.

*The web site listed is, of course, biased from a Muslim point of view. Nevertheless, despite an Ensign-Chekhov-like tendency to claim that Muslims invented everything including sliced bread, the history and science portions are largely accurate.