Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, for many a symbol of the changes of the Western culture during the Renaissance

Western culture or Western civilization is a term used to refer to the cultures of the people of European origin and their decendants. It comprises the broad heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs (such as religious beliefs) and specific artifacts and technologies as shared within the Western sphere of influence. The term "Western" is often used in contrast to Asian, African, or Arab nations. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (894x1250, 147 KB)Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (894x1250, 147 KB)Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci. ... Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an immensely multi-talented Italian Renaissance Roman Catholic[1] polymath: architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor, geometer, musician and painter. ... The Vitruvian Man is a famous drawing with accompanying notes by Leonardo da Vinci made around the year 1492 in one of his journals. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... Heritage can refer to: Cultural heritage Cultural traditions Heritage tourism Inheritance Kinship and descent Natural heritage A novel in the BBC Books series See also English Heritage UNESCO World Heritage Site This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... In sociology, a norm, or social norm, is a pattern of behavior expected within a particular society in a given situation. ... Ethics (from Greek ἦθος meaning custom) is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to distinguish that which is right from that which is wrong. ... A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom. ... Fishers of Men, oil on panel by Adriaen van de Venne (1614) Various religious symbols Religion is a human phenomenon that defies easy definition. ... The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... A sphere of influence (SOI) is an area or region over which an organization or state exerts some kind of indirect cultural, economic, military or political domination. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Asian people. ... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are an ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ...

The East-West contrast is sometimes criticised as relativistic. In some ways it has grown out of use, or has been transformed or clarified to fit more precise uses. Though it is directly descendent from academic Orientalism and Occidentalism, the changing usage of the distinction "East-West" has come to be useful as a means to identify important cultural similarities and differences — both within an increasingly larger concept of local region, as well as with regard to increasingly familiar "alien" cultures. Orientalism is the study of Near and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages and peoples by Western scholars. ... Occidentalism is a term for stereotyped and sometimes dehumanizing views of the so-called Western world, including Europe, the United States, Australia and so on. ...

During the Cold War, the East-West contrast became synonymous with the competing governments of the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies — characterized in the West as a bipolar battle between the "Free World" and the "Communist Empire." The Cold War (Russian: Холодная война Kholodnaya Voina) was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their military alliance partners. ... The Free World is a Cold War-era term used by non-communist nations to describe themselves. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

Description

Classical definition of the Western world: All of the depicted countries in blue were predominately influenced by Graeco-Roman culture and Christian and Enlightenment ideals and/or shaped by strong Western European immigration and settlement

Several Definitions of the Western world

The concept of Western culture is generally linked to the classical definition of Western world. In this definition, Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, musical, and philosophical principles which set it apart from other great civilizations. It applies to countries whose history is strongly marked by Western European immigration or settlement, and is not restricted to Western Europe. Much of this set of traditions is collected in the Western canon. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1357x628, 25 KB) Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1357x628, 25 KB) Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1357x628, 30 KB)Several definitions of the West File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1357x628, 30 KB)Several definitions of the West File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The term Western world or the West can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... For the periodical, see Science (journal) Science in the broadest sense refers to any knowledge or trained skill, especially (but not exclusively) when this is attained by verifiable means. ... Music is a form of expression in the medium of time using the structures of tones and silence. ... Philosopher in Meditation (detail), by Rembrandt. ... For other senses of this word, see history (disambiguation). ... The Western canon is a canon of books and art (and specifically one with very loose boundaries) that has allegedly been highly influential in shaping Western culture. ...

Various uses of the concept of ‘Western’ Culture have included, rightly or wrongly, critiques of American culture, materialism, industrialism, capitalism, commercialism, hedonism, imperialism, modernism, or the teaching of Western civilization. This article very generally discusses the customs and culture of the United States; for the culture of the United States, see arts and entertainment in the United States. ... In philosophy, materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to exist is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. ... Hedonism (Greek: hÄ“donÄ“ pleasure + –ism) describes any way of thinking that gives pleasure a central role. ... Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires. ... Modernism is a cultural movement that generally includes the progressive art and architecture, music, literature and design which emerged in the decades before 1914. ... The word civilization (or civilisation) has a variety of meanings related to human society. ...

Foundations

Socrates taught others via inquiry

The origins of Western Culture are often cited as ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and Catholic and Protestant Christianity, and as such, some describe it as "Judeo-Christian culture", neglecting the fundamental role of ancient and modern philosophy and science. Its source also lies prominently in the Germanic, Slavic and Celtic popular cultures that took part in the formation of the culture of medieval Europe. Image File history File links Socrates. ... Image File history File links Socrates. ... Socrates (Greek: , invariably anglicized assɔkɹətiːz, Sǒcratēs; 470?–399 BCE) was a ancient Greek philosopher who is widely credited for laying the foundation for Western philosophy. ... Inquiry education (sometimes known as the inquiry method) is a student-centered method of education focused on asking questions. ... Ancient Greece is the period in Greek history lasting for close to a millennium, until the rise of Christianity. ... Octavian, widely known as Augustus, founder of the Roman empire The Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ... Judeo-Christian (or Judaeo-Christian) is a term used to describe the body of concepts and values which are thought to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, and typically considered (along with classical Greco-Roman civilization) a fundamental basis for Western legal codes and moral values. ... For the periodical, see Science (journal) Science in the broadest sense refers to any knowledge or trained skill, especially (but not exclusively) when this is attained by verifiable means. ... The Slavic peoples are a linguistic and ethnic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in Europe. ... A Celtic cross. ...

Western culture has developed a plethora of literary, musical, philosophical, religious, and other traditions. Important traditions were: Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... Music is a form of expression in the medium of time using the structures of tones and silence. ... Philosopher in Meditation (detail), by Rembrandt. ... Fishers of Men, oil on panel by Adriaen van de Venne (1614) Various religious symbols Religion is a human phenomenon that defies easy definition. ...

• Roman Catholicism and Protestantism
• Scholasticism
• Humanism
• Renaissance
• Secularisation
• Rationalism and the Scientific method

The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Protestantism is one of three primary branches of Christianity. ... Scholasticism comes from the Latin word scholasticus, which means that [which] belongs to the school, and is the school of philosophy taught by the academics (or schoolmen) of medieval universities circa 1100–1500. ... Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities—particularly rationalism. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... This article concerns secularism, the exclusion of religion and supernatural beliefs. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for the investigation of phenomena and the acquisition of new knowledge of the natural world, as well as the correction and integration of previous knowledge, based on observable, empirical, measurable evidence, and subject to laws of reasoning. ...

History

William Shakespeare, a major influence on modern Western literature.

Western Culture is not homogeneous, nor unchanging. As with all other great cultures it evolved and gradually changed with time. All generalities about it have their exceptions at some time and place. The organization and tactics of the Greek Hoplites differed in many ways from the Roman Legions. The City State of the Greeks is not the same as the American Superpower of the 21st century. The gladiatorial games of the Roman Empire are not identical to present-day Soccer. The art of Pompeii is not the art of Hollywood. Nevertheless, it is possible to follow the evolution and history of the West, and appreciate it's similarities and differences, its borrowings from and contributions to, the other cultures of Man. Image File history File links Hw-shakespeare. ... Image File history File links Hw-shakespeare. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Warfare in Hellenic Greece centered mainly around heavy infantrymen called hoplites. ... A modern reconstruction of a roman centurion around 70 AD The Roman legion (from Latin , from lego, legere, legi, lectus — to collect) was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city, and usually having sovereignty. ... A superpower is a state with the first rank in the international system and the ability to influence events and project power on a worldwide scale; it is considered a higher level of power than a major power. ... Pollice Verso, an 1872 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, is a well known history painters researched conception of a gladiatorial combat. ... Octavian, widely known as Augustus, founder of the Roman empire The Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum was discovered in the ancient cities around the bay of Naples (particularly of Pompeii and Herculaneum) after extensive excavations began in the 18th century. ... ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (the great apes). ...

The ancient Greek conception of science, philosophy, democracy, architecture, literature, and art provided a foundation embraced and built upon by the Roman Empire as it swept up Greece in its conquests in the 1st century BC. For five hundred years, the Roman Empire spread the Greek and Latin languages and Roman law across Europe, although it rejected the democratic concepts pioneered in ancient Athens. Roman culture mixed with the pre-existing Germanic, Slavic, and Celtic cultures. Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for the investigation of phenomena and the acquisition of new knowledge of the natural world, as well as the correction and integration of previous knowledge, based on observable, empirical, measurable evidence, and subject to laws of reasoning. ... Philosopher in Meditation (detail), by Rembrandt. ... From the point of view of modern times, the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean sometimes seem to blend smoothly into one melange we call the Classical. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Venus de Milo exhibited in the Louvre museum, France. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... Macedonian Culture is the culture of the Slavic Macedonian population of the Balkan region was known in the 20th century as Vardar Macedonia, the current Republic of Macedonia). ... Muiredacha Cross. ...

After the fall of Rome much of Greco-Roman art, literature, science and even technology were lost. Europe fell into political anarchy, with many warring kingdoms and principalities, and evolved into feudalism. The Greek and Roman paganism was essentially completely replaced by Christianity. Roman Catholic Christianity served as a unifying force in Western Europe, and in some respects replaced or competed with the secular authorities. Art and literature, law, education, and politics all fell into its sway. The Church founded many cathedrals, monasteries and seminaries, some of which evolved into today's universities and colleges. In the Medieval period, the route to power for many men was in the Church. The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a major literary achievement of Eighteenth Century, was written by the English historian, Edward Gibbon. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... Religion in ancient Rome combined several different cult practices and embraced more than a single set of beliefs. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... A Cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, which serves as the central church of a bishopric. ... Monastery of St. ... A seminary is a specialized university-like institution for the purpose of instructing students (seminarians) in theology, often in order to prepare them to become members of the clergy. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ...

It actively encouraged the spreading of Christianity, which also helped to spread early Western culture. Owing to the influence of Arab culture—a culture that had preserved the knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome—in Moorish Spain and in the Levant during the Crusades, Western Europe rediscovered its Greek heritage in the 1300s, and the Renaissance was born. From the early 15th century to the early 17th century Western culture began to be spread throughout the world by intrepid explorers and missionaries in the Age of Discovery. For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Moor religion be merged into this article or section. ... The Levant Levant is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ... This article is about the medieval crusades. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships travelled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. ...

The architecture of the White House deliberately recalls ancient Greek temples.

Renaissance Western culture was spread to the New World and beyond in the 1500s by explorers, traders, missionaries and colonists. The Enlightenment of the 1700s, in turn, culminated politically in the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The industrial revolution, which began in the last half of the eighteenth century in Great Britain, changed Western Culture to one that emphasized the notion of progress, development and change, material well-being and, eventually, consumerism, and transformed the world. The ideas of civil rights, equality before the law, procedural justice, and democracy as the ideal form of society, and were principles which formed the basis of modern Western culture. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1536x1024, 274 KB)Photographed and uploaded by user:Geographer. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1536x1024, 274 KB)Photographed and uploaded by user:Geographer. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... Carte dAmérique, Guillaume Delisle, c. ... The so-called Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships were traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. ... A fruit stand at a market. ... A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ... See colony and colonisation for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism. ... The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a period which includes the Age of Reason. ... The American Revolution was an upheaval that ended British control of middle North America, resulting in the formation of the United States of America in 1776. ... Liberty Leading the People, a painting by Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830 but which has come to be generally accepted as symbolic of French popular uprisings against the monarchy in general and the French Revolution in particular. ... A Watt steam engine in Madrid. ... Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes the society better in the general view of its members. ... Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possessions and consumption. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Social equality is a social state of affairs in which certain different people have the same status in a certain respect, minimally at least in voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and property rights. ... See also Portal:Law The stela of King Hammurabi depicts the god Shamash revealing a code of laws to the king. ... Procedural justice concerns the fairness of the processes by which decisions are made--as contrasted with the distributive justice (fairness in the distribution of rights or resources) and corrective justice (fairness in the rectification of wrongs). ... Human relationships within an ethnically diverse society. ...

In the 1800s, the United States began to develop its own especially pragmatic strain of Western culture and, by the middle of the twentieth century, had become a dominating influence, flooding the rest of the Western world and beyond with American fashion, entertainment, and technology. Pragmatism is a school of philosophy which originated in the United States in the late 1800s. ...

Discipline became an important aspect of the western culture during the renaissance (see Norbert Elias and Michel Foucault). Emphasizing civilized behaviour and disciplining is not special for the western culture. What is special in the western culture is the thoroughly separating and labeling of humans, knowledge, space and time. Western discipline led to military drill and military inventions, which enabeled military world dominance. The rule of law and the separation of privacy and business created strong institutions in the society and the economy. These institutions, together with the western military dominance, overwhelmed the 'underdeveloped' cultures. The success of the western culture led to an obsession with discipline (Victorian culture; eugenics). The counterculture of the 1960s made an end to this obsession, at least in its overt forms. Social philosophers such as Foucault have theorized that discipline has taken on covert forms (i.e., through surveillance; record keeping) in "disciplinary networks" that pervade western society.^[1] Discipline is any training intended to produce a specific character or pattern of behaviour, especially training that produces moral or mental development in a particular direction. ... Norbert Elias (born June 22, 1897 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland); died August 1, 1990 in Amsterdam) was a German sociologist of Jewish descent, who later became a British citizen. ... Michel Foucault (October 15, 1926 – June 25, 1984) was a French philosopher who held a chair at the Collège de France, which he gave the title The History of Systems of Thought. ... Etiquette, also known as decorum, is the code that governs the expectations of social behavior, the conventional norm. ... Knowledge is information of which a person, organization or other entity is aware. ... Space has been an interest for philosophers and scientists for much of human history, and hence it is difficult to provide an uncontroversial and clear definition outside of specific defined contexts. ... A pocket watch, a common timekeeping device. ... The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... An invention is an object, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. ... Victorianism is the name given to the attitudes, art and culture of the later two-thirds of the 19th century. ... Eugenics is the self-direction of human evolution: Logo from the Second International Congress of Eugenics, 1921, depicting it as a tree which unites a variety of different fields. ... In sociology, counterculture is a term used to describe a cultural group whose values and norms run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition or swimming against the tide. ...

Japan has largely adopted Western culture, albeit while maintaining strong Japanese traditions.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 470 KB) Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, Japan Photo taken summer 2003 by user en:user:Willswe. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 470 KB) Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, Japan Photo taken summer 2003 by user en:user:Willswe. ...

Hegemony

Elements of Western culture have had a very influential role on other cultures worldwide. People of many cultures, both Western and non-Western, equate "modernization" with "westernization," but many non-westerners object to the implication that all societies should also adopt western ideas and values. Some members of the non-Western world have suggested that this the link between technological progress and certain harmful Western values provides a reason why much of "modernity" should be rejected as being incompatible with their vision and the values of their societies.

What is generally uncontested, is that much of the technology and social patterns which make up what is defined as "modernization" were developed in the Western world. Whether these technological and social patterns are intrinsically part of Western culture, is more difficult to answer. Many would argue that the question cannot be answered by a response from positivistic science and instead is a "value" question which must be answered from a value system (e.g. philosophy, religion, political doctrine). Nonetheless, much of anthropology today has shown the close links between the physical environment and daily activities and the formation of a culture (the findings of cultural ecology, among others). Therefore, the impact of "modernization" and "modern" technology may not merely be "scientific" (that is, physical) but may possibly be closely linked with a certain culture, that of the West, such that without such technology, Western culture today would have been dramatically different from how it is known in actual historical and contemporary times. Positivism can have several meanings. ... For the periodical, see Science (journal) Science in the broadest sense refers to any knowledge or trained skill, especially (but not exclusively) when this is attained by verifiable means. ... Cultural ecology is ecology including humans. ...

Multiculturalism

Because of its nature as the foundation of the culture, the art, literature, and history of Western countries have dominated school curriculums in the Americas and Europe almost exclusively. Beginning in the 1970s and accelerating in the 1990s, a new cultural awareness, called multiculturalism, began to encourage across the West the study of African and Eastern culture, history, and art. This is especially popular in the United States. The difference between America and Europe is that Americans have the tendency to describe reality using different point of views, while Europeans like to keep a central story, which is enhanced by case-studies. This difference is very clear in the study of history. ^{[citation needed]} The Americas (sometimes referred to as America) is the area including the land mass located between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, generally divided into North America and South America. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... Multiculturalism is a public policy approach for managing cultural diversity in a multiethnic society, officially stressing mutual respect and tolerance for cultural differences within a countrys borders. ...

Beyond art and politics

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.

Henry Ford popularized both mass production and his example of it: the Model T.

Aside from food, literature, art, music, religion, and politics, many aspects of Western culture differ from other cultures around the world. Western culture has evolved and changed throughout the past centuries, but at the same time certain themes and trends persist to varying degrees: Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Image File history File links Picture of non-black 1927 Model T at Greenfield Village, photo by rmhermen File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Picture of non-black 1927 Model T at Greenfield Village, photo by rmhermen File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Time Magazine, January 14, 1935 Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the founder of the Ford Motor Company. ... Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardised products on production lines. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ford Model T For the blues musician, see T-Model Ford. ...

• An emphasis on technological innovation and science coupled with a belief in progress;
• An emphasis on human rights, which are considered natural rights.
• Personal freedom as an important value;
• Expectation of personal responsibility;
• A strong sense of personal privacy and civil rights;
• Tolerance of a wide variety of subcultures, some of which have a strong collective or coercive ideology
• A sense of personal honor and personal shame that rejects dutiful suicide and honor killings;
• Consensus that personal enrichment of political office holders is an offense against society;
• Allegiance to the nuclear family, rather than to the extended family.

Occidental marriage customs which are occasionally different in other cultures today are: For the periodical, see Science (journal) Science in the broadest sense refers to any knowledge or trained skill, especially (but not exclusively) when this is attained by verifiable means. ... Progress can refer to: The idea of a process in which societies or individuals become better or more modern (technologically and/or socially). ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Natural rights (also called moral rights) are universal rights that are seen as not contingent upon being granted by government. ... Political freedom is the right, or the capacity, of self-determination as an expression of the individual will. ... The word responsibility means the obligation to answer for actions. ... Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to keep their lives and personal affairs out of public view, or to stop information about themselves from becoming known to people other than those whom they choose to give the information. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... As understood in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a set of people with a distinct set of behavior and beliefs that differentiate them from a larger culture of which they are a part. ... Collective can also refer to the collective pitch flight control in helicopters A collective is a group of people who share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project(s) to achieve a common objective. ... Honor (or honor) comprises the reputation, self-perception or moral identity of an individual or of a group. ... Shame is a psychological condition and a form of religious, political, judicial, and social control consisting of ideas, emotional states, physiological states and a set of behaviors, induced by the consciousness or awareness of dishonor, disgrace, or condemnation. ... Dutiful suicide is an act, or attempted act, of fatal self-violence at ones own hands done in the belief that it will secure a greater good, rather than to escape harsh or impossible conditions. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this section may require cleanup. ... World map of the Corruption Perceptions Index In broad terms, political corruption is the misuse of public (governmental) power for illegitimate, usually secret, private advantage. ... The term nuclear family was developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents and their children, usually a father, mother, and children, from what is known as an extended family. ... Extended family is a term with several distinct meanings. ...

• A strict legal requirement for monogamous and consentual marriage;
• An occasionally casual attitude toward sex between unmarried persons;
• An expectation of marriage as a source of personal fulfilment through romance, rather than as a practical domestic arrangement;
• Reduced or no legal enforcement of social bans on adultery;
• A reduced expectation of a single life-long marriage.

In monogamy (Greek: monos = single/only and gamos = marriage) a person has only one spouse at a time (as opposed to polygamy). ... Consent (as a term of jurisprudence) is a possible justification against civil or criminal liability. ... A marriage is a relationship between or among individuals, usually recognized by civil authority and/or bound by the religious beliefs of the participants. ... Look up Sex in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A marriage is a relationship between or among individuals, usually recognized by civil authority and/or bound by the religious beliefs of the participants. ... Romantic love is a form of love that is often regarded as different from mere needs driven by sexual desire, or lust. ... Man and woman undergoing public exposure for adultery in Japan, around 1860 Adultery is generally defined as consensual sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than his or her lawful spouse. ... A marriage is a relationship between or among individuals, usually recognized by civil authority and/or bound by the religious beliefs of the participants. ...

Western achievements

A distinctive feature of the Western culture is its focus on science and technology, and its ability to generate new processes, materials and material artifacts. It was the West that first developed steam power and adapted its use into factories, and for the generation of electrical power. The Otto and the Diesel internal combustion engines are products whose genesis and early development were in the West. Nuclear power stations are derived from the first atomic pile in Chicago (1942). The electrical dynamo, transformer, electric motor, and electric light, and indeed virtually all of the familiar electrical appliances, were inventions of the West. New communication devices and systems such as the telegraph, the telephone, fax, the transatlantic cable, radio and television, the communications and navigation satellites, mobile phones, the internet and the web can all be credited to the West. The ubiquitous materials such as concrete, aluminum, clear glass, synthetic rubber, synthetic diamond and the plastics polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene, among others, are all inventions of the West. Iron and steel ships, bridges and skyscrapers first appeared in the West. The transistor, integrated circuits, the memory chip, and computers were all first seen in the West. The pencil, ballpoint pen, CRT, LCD, LED, the photograph, photocopy, laser printer and plasma display screen were too. The ship's chronometer, the engine powered screw propeller, the locomotive, bicycle, automobile, and airplane were all invented in the West. Eyeglasses, the telescope, and the microscope and electron microscope, all the varieties of chromatography, protein and DNA sequencing, computerized tomography, NMR, x-rays, and light, ultraviolet and infrared spectroscopy, were all first developed and applied in Western laboratories, hospitals and factories. The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... A Diesel engine built by MAN AG in 1906 Rudolf Diesels 1893 patent on his engine design The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited by being suddenly exposed to the high temperature... A nuclear power station. ... Core of a small nuclear reactor used for research. ... This article is about the year. ... An electrical generator is a device that produces electrical energy from a mechanical energy source. ... Three-phase pole-mounted step-down transformer. ... Fax (short for facsimile - from Latin fac simile, make similar, i. ... A transatlantic telephone cable is a submarine communications cable that carries telephone traffic under the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe. ... Satellite navigation systems allow small electronic devices to determine their location (Longitude, Latitude, and Altitude) in within a few metres using time signals transmitted along a line of sight by radio from satellites. ... WWWs historical logo designed by Robert Cailliau The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is a global, read-write information space. ... Synthetic rubber is any type of artificially-made polymer material which acts as an elastomer. ... Synthetic Diamond is diamond produced through chemical or physical processes in a factory. ... Polyethylene or polyethene is a thermoplastic commodity heavily used in consumer products (over 60M tons are produced worldwide every year). ... Polypropylene lid of a Tic Tacs box, with a living hinge and the resin identification code under its flap Polypropylene or polypropene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer, used in a wide variety of applications, including food packaging, textiles, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes. ... For other uses, see Polystyrene (disambiguation). ... Assorted transistors The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device that can be used for amplification, switching, voltage stabilization, signal modulation and many other functions. ... An integrated circuit (IC) is a thin chip consisting of at least two interconnected semiconductor devices, mainly transistors, as well as passive components like resistors. ... Cathode ray tube employing electromagnetic focus and deflection Cutaway rendering of a color CRT Electron guns Electron beams Focusing coils Deflection coils Anode connection Mask for separating beams for red, green, and blue part of displayed image Phosphor layer with red, green, and blue zones Close-up of the phosphor... LCD redirects here. ... External links LEd Category: TeX ... 1993 Apple LaserWriter Pro 630 laser printer A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that reproduces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. ... A plasma display panel (PDP) is an emissive flat panel display where light is created by phosphors excited by a plasma discharge between two flat panels of glass. ... Longitude by Chronometer, known by mariners as Long by Chrom, is an astronomical navigation method of calculating an observers position on earth. ... A propeller can be seen as a rotating fin in water or a wing in air. ... It has been suggested that Selected area diffraction be merged into this article or section. ... A chemist is shown using column chromatographic apparatus in the mid-1950s to separate constituents in a coal tar color analysis Chromatography (from Greek chroma, colour) is the collective term for a family of laboratory techniques for the separation of mixtures. ... Proteins are found in every cell and are essential to every biological process, protein structure is very complex: determining a proteins structure involves first protein sequencing - determining the amino acid sequences of its constituent peptides; and also determining what conformation it adopts and whether it is complexed with any... DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleotide order of a given DNA fragment, called the DNA sequence. ... CAT apparatus in a hospital Computed axial tomography (CAT), computer-assisted tomography, computed tomography, CT, or body section roentgenography is the process of using digital processing to generate a three-dimensional image of the internals of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around... NMR may refer to: Nuclear magnetic resonance, a phenomenon involving the interaction of atomic nuclei and external magnetic fields Nielsen Media Research, a U.S. company which measures TV, radio and newspaper audiences This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Extremely high resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines (fraunhofer lines) Spectroscopy is the study of spectra, that is, the dependence of physical quantities on frequency. ...

In medicine, Vaccination, anesthesia, MRI, the birth control pill, and all the pure antibiotics were discovered in the West. The method of preventing Rh disease, the treatment of diabetes, and the germ theory of disease were discovered by Westerners. The eradication of that ancient scourge, smallpox, was led by a Westerner, Donald Henderson. Radiography,Magnetic resonance imaging, Computed tomography, Positron emission tomography and Medical ultrasonography are important diagnostic tools developed in the West. So were the stethoscope, electrocardiograph, and the endoscope. Vitamins, oral contraceptives, hormones, insulin, Beta blockers and ACE inhibitors, along with a host of other medically proven drugs were first utilized to treat disease in the West. The double-blind study and evidence-based medicine are critical scientific techniques widely used in the West for medical purposes. Vaccination is the process of administering live, albeit weakened, microbes to patients, with the intent of conferring immunity against a targeted form of a related disease agent. ... Cetacaine, a typical topical anesthetic Anesthesia or anaesthesia (see spelling differences), is the process of blocking the perception of pain and other sensations. ... The mri are a fictional alien species in the Faded Sun Trilogy of C.J. Cherryh. ... Oral contraceptives are contraceptives which are taken orally and inhibit the bodys fertility by chemical means. ... An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. ... Rh disease (also known as Rh (D) disease, Rhesus disease, RhD Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn, Rhesus D Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn or RhD HDN) is one of the causes of hemolytic disease of the newborn (also known as HDN). ... This article is about the disease that features high blood sugar. ... The germ theory of disease states that many diseases are caused by microorganisms, and that microorganisms grow by reproduction, rather than being spontaneously generated. ... Smallpox (also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera) was a highly contagious viral disease unique to humans. ... Donald D.A. Ainslie Henderson, MD, is an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University who was vital in the international effort during the 1960s to eradicate smallpox. ... Radiography is the creation of images by exposing a photographic film or other image receptor to X-rays. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... CT apparatus in a hospital Computed tomography (CT), originally known as computed axial tomography (CAT or CAT scan) and body section roentgenography, is a medical imaging method employing tomography where digital geometry processing is used to generate a three-dimensional image of the internals of an object from a large... Image of a typical positron emission tomography (PET) facility Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body. ... Medical ultrasonography (sonography) is an ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging technique used to visualize muscles and internal organs, their size, structure and any pathological lesions, making them useful for scanning the organs. ... Stethoscope The stethoscope (Greek στηθοσκόπιο, of στήθος, stéthos - chest and σκοπή, skopé - examination) is an acoustic medical device for auscultation, i. ... ECG may also refer to the East Coast Greenway Lead II An Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG, abbreviated from the German Elektrokardiogramm) is a graphic produced by an electrocardiograph, which records the electrical voltage in the heart in the form of a continuous strip graph. ... Endoscopy means looking inside and refers to looking inside the human body for medical reasons. ... Vitamins are organic chemicals that a given living organism requires in trace quantities for good health, but which the organism cannot synthesize, and therefore must obtain from its diet. ... Oral contraceptives are contraceptives which are taken orally and inhibit the bodys fertility by chemical means. ... Hormone is also the NATO reporting name for the Soviet/Russian Kamov Ka-25 military helicopter. ... The structure of insulin. ... Beta blockers or beta-adrenergic blocking agents are a class of drugs used to treat a variety of cardiovascular conditions and some other diseases. ... ACE inhibitors, or inhibitors of Angiotensin_Converting Enzyme, are a group of pharmaceuticals that are used primarily in treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure, in most cases as the drugs of first choice. ... Double-blind describes an especially stringent way of conducting an experiment, usually on living, conscious, human subjects. ... Evidence-based medicine (EBM) applies the scientific method to medical practice. ...

In mathematics, calculus, statistics, logic, vector, tensor and complex analysis, group theory and topology were developed by Westerners. In biology, evolution, chromosomes, DNA, genetics and the methods of molecular biology are creatures of the West. In physics, the science of mechanics and quantum mechanics, relativity, thermodynamics, and statistical mechanics were all discovered by Westerners. The atom, nucleus, electron, neutron and proton were all unveiled by Westerners. Most of the elements, as well as the correct notion of elements themselves were discovered in the West. Nitrogen fixation and petrochemicals were achievements of Westerners. Chemistry itself became a science in the West. Calculus is a central branch of mathematics, developed from algebra and geometry. ... A graph of a bell curve in a normal distribution showing statistics used in educational assessment, comparing various grading methods. ... Logic, from Classical Greek λόγος (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, (but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of criteria for the evaluation of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy among philosophers. ... In physics and in vector calculus, a spatial vector is a concept characterized by a magnitude, which is a scalar, and a direction (which can be defined in a 3-dimensional space by the Euler angles). ... In mathematics, a tensor is (in an informal sense) a generalized linear quantity or geometrical entity that can be expressed as a multi-dimensional array relative to a choice of basis; however, as an object in and of itself, a tensor is independent of any chosen frame of reference. ... Complex analysis is the branch of mathematics investigating functions of complex numbers, and is of enormous practical use in many branches of mathematics, including applied mathematics. ... Group theory is that branch of mathematics concerned with the study of groups. ... Topology (Greek topos, place and logos, study) is a branch of mathematics concerned with spatial properties preserved under bicontinuous deformation (stretching without tearing or gluing); these are the topological invariants. ... A hypothetical phylogenetic tree of all extant organisms, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data, showing the evolutionary history of the three domains of life, bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. ... This article is about the biological chromosome. ... The general structure of a section of DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid —usually in the form of a double helix— that contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of all cellular forms of life, and most viruses. ... Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ= give birth) is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. ... Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. ... Mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the motion of physical bodies, the forces that cause or limit these motions, and the forces to which bodies may, in turn, give rise. ... For a non-technical introduction to the topic, please see Introduction to Quantum mechanics. ... In physics, the term relativity is used in several, related contexts: Galileo first developed the principle of relativity, which is the postulate that the laws of physics are the same for all observers. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... Statistical mechanics is the application of statistics, which includes mathematical tools for dealing with large populations, to the field of mechanics, which is concerned with the motion of particles or objects when subjected to a force. ... Properties In chemistry and physics, an atom (Greek άτομον meaning indivisible) is the smallest possible particle of a chemical element that retains its chemical properties. ... A semi-accurate depiction of the helium atom. ... Properties The electron is a lightweight fundamental subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. ... Properties In physics, the neutron is a subatomic particle with no net electric charge and a mass of 939. ... Properties In physics, the proton (Greek proton = first) is a subatomic particle with an electric charge of one positive fundamental unit (1. ... A chemical element, often called simply element, is a chemical substance that cannot be decomposed or transformed into other chemical substances by ordinary chemical methods. ... Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its relatively inert molecular form (N2) in the atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds useful for other chemical processes (such as, notably, ammonia, nitrate and nitrogen dioxide). ... A petrochemical is any chemical derived from fossil fuel. ... Chemistry (derived from alchemy) is the science of matter at or near the atomic scale. ...

Westerners are also known for their explorations of the globe and space. The first expedition to circumnavigate the Earth was by Westerners, as well as the first to set foot on the Poles, and the first to land on the moon. The landing of robots on Mars and on an asteroid, and the Voyager explorations of the outer planets were all achievements of Westerners. Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese: Fernão de Magalhães, IPA pronunciation: //; Spanish: Fernando or Hernando de Magallanes; Spring 1480–April 27, 1521[1]) was a Portuguese maritime explorer who led the first successful attempt to circumnavigate the Earth. ... Apollo 11 was the fifth human spaceflight of the Apollo program, the third human voyage to the moon, and the first manned mission to land on the Moon. ... Artists Concept of Rover on Mars NASAs Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission (since 2003) is a unmanned Mars exploration mission that includes sending two Rovers (robots) to explore the Martian surface and geology. ... Near Earth Asteroid Eros as seen from the NEAR spacecraft. ... Voyager 1 lifted off with a Titan 3E Centaur The Voyager 1 spacecraft is an 815-kilogram unmanned probe of the outer solar system and beyond, launched September 5, 1977, and currently operational. ...

Contemporary Western Culture

The western culture is not homogenous. There are strong differences between multiple western countries. Most of it based on the differences between the media and the politics in western countries.

Similarities

Western countries are more developed than other countries in the world. This means that only a small part of society is poor. The richness of the majority of westerners result in freedom expressed in consumerism. Westerners have the ability to travel around the world, which they do en masse during holidays. Western countries tend to have low fertility rate relative to less developed countries. Political freedom is the right, or the capacity, of self-determination as an expression of the individual will. ... Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possessions and consumption. ... The word holiday has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries. ...

Media in western countries have paid much attention to disasters that happen around the world. Many westerners are active in helping people around the world, either by charity or by state intervention. The enormous amount of information, products, and subcultures leads to reduced adherance to ideologies. Cynicism has increased which can be examplified by comedians and comedy shows like South Park, and writers as Michel Houellebecq. An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... South Park is an American animated television series created, written and voiced by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. ... Michel Houellebecq (pronounced ) (real name Michel Thomas), born 26 February 1958, on the French island of Réunion is a controversial, award-winning French novelist. ...

Renewing is important in the western culture. Trendwatchers are constantly looking for new trends. New subcultures emerge. Artists, inventors try to make new things. New products are made by companies resulting in shops stuffed with consumer products.

Differences

There are many differences between the most populous regions of the western culture, the United States and Western Europe. Religion has waned considerably in Western Europe. Many the western Europeans are agnostic or atheist and nearly half of the populations of the United Kingdom (31-4