Urszula Krysiewicz
Subject : The sources of European civilization
1. Introduction
a. Ancient (Greek, Roman, Hellenistic) heritage
b. Jewish and Christian contribution
c. Arabic influences
d. Renaissance ideas (Republica Litterarum; republic of letters)
e. Enlightenment foundations of modernity
2. Summary
1. Introduction
The current shape of European civilization began its creation many centuries ago, when the
continent of Europe were full of primary civilizations as Greek, Roman. As well as European
influences, also Arabic or Asian impact was important for nowadays culture. Ancient
scientists or philosophers gave basis for development of Europe.
a. Ancient (Greek, Roman, Hellenistic) heritage
One of the many things that Europe inherited from Greece are ancient philosophers. They
dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics,
ontology, logic, biology, rhetoric, and aesthetics. It has influenced much of Western thought
since its inception. Clear lines of influence lead from ancient Greek and Hellenistic
philosophers, to medieval Islamic philosophers, to the European Renaissance and
Enlightenment.
Thales of Miletus, regarded by Aristotle as the first philosopher, held that all things arise from
water. He gave a naturalistic explanation of the cosmos and supported it with reasons. His
followers argued that the substratum or arche could not be water or any of the classical
elements but was instead something "unlimited" or "indefinite,". According to tradition,
Thales was able to predict an eclipse and taught the Egyptians how to measure the height of
the pyramids.
During ancient times in Greece were growth of many schools of philosophers who were
trying to explain different phenomenons of the world. Among them were Sophists who
certainly were not directly responsible for Athenian democracy, but their cultural and
psychological contributions played an important role in its growth. They contributed to the
new democracy in part by espousing expertise in public deliberation, since this was the
foundation of decision-making, which allowed and perhaps required a tolerance of the beliefs
of others. This liberal attitude would naturally have precipitated into the Athenian assembly as
Sophists acquired increasingly high-powered clients. Continuous rhetorical training gave the
citizens of Athens "the ability to create accounts of communal possibilities through persuasive
speech". This was extremely important for the democracy, as it gave disparate and sometimes
superficially unattractive views a chance to be heard in the Athenian assembly. In addition,
Sophists had great impact on the early development of law, as the sophists were the first
lawyers in the world. Their status as lawyers was a result of their extremely developed
argumentation skills.
The Milesian school was a school of thought founded in the 6th century BC. The ideas
associated with it are exemplified by three philosophers from the Ionian town of Miletus:
Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes. They introduced new opinions contrary to the
prevailing viewpoint on how the world was organized, in which natural phenomena were
explained solely by the will of anthropomorphized gods. The Milesians presented a view of
nature in terms of methodologically observable entities, and as such was one of the first truly
scientific philosophies.
Both works of Plato - the Republic and the Statesman reveal the limitations of politics, raising
the question of what political order would be best given those constraints; that question is
addressed in the Laws, a dialogue that does not take place in Athens and from which Socrates
is absent. The character of the society described there is eminently conservative, a corrected
or liberalized timocracy on the Spartan or Cretan model or pre-democratic Athens.1
The term democracy comes from the word Greek: dēmokratía "rule of the people", which was
coined from “dêmos)” - "people" and ‘Kratos” - "power", in the middle of the 5th-4th century
BC to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states.
Democracy has its formal origins in Ancient Greece, but democratic practices are evident in
earlier societies including Mesopotamia, Phoenicia and India. Other cultures since Greece
have significantly contributed to the evolution of democracy such as Ancient Rome, Europe,
and North and South America. The concept of representative democracy arose largely from
ideas and institutions that developed during the European Middle Ages and the Age of
Enlightenment and in the American and French Revolutions. Democracy has been called the
"last form of government" and has spread considerably across the globe. The right to vote has
been expanded in many jurisdictions over time from relatively narrow groups (such as
wealthy men of a particular ethnic group), with New Zealand the first nation to grant
universal suffrage for all its citizens in 1893. Democracy is often confused with the republic
form of government. In some definitions of "republic," a republic is a form of democracy.
Other definitions make "republic" a separate, unrelated term
1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_philosophy
The term Democracy first appeared in ancient Greek political and philosophical thought. The
Greek city state of Athens, led by Cleisthenes, established what is generally held as the first
democracy in 507 BCE. Cleisthenes is referred to as "the father of Athenian democracy". The
Athenian philosopher Plato contrasted democracy, the system of "rule by the governed", with
the alternative systems of monarchy (rule by one individual), oligarchy (rule of the wealthy)
and timocracy (rule by an elite class valuing honor as opposed to wealth). Today Classical
Athenian democracy is considered by many to have been a direct democracy. Originally it had
two distinguishing features: first the allotment (selection by lot) of ordinary citizens to the few
government offices and the courts, and secondarily the assembly of all the citizens. All
citizens were eligible to speak and vote in the assembly, which set the laws of the city state.
However, Athenian citizens were all-male, born from parents who were born in Athens, and
excluded women, slaves, foreigners.
Even though the Roman Republic contributed significantly to certain aspects of democracy,
only a minority of Romans were citizens with votes in elections for representatives. The votes
of the powerful were given more weight through a system of Gerrymandering, so most high
officials, including members of the Senate, came from a few wealthy and noble families.
However, many notable exceptions did occur.2
Since the days of the Law of the Twelve Tables, developed during the early republic, the
Roman legal system was characterized by a formalism that lasted for more than 1.000 years.
Early Roman law was drawn from custom and statutes, but later during the times of the
empire, the emperors asserted their authority as the ultimate source of law. Their edicts,
judgments, administrative instructions, and responses to petitions were all collected with the
comments of legal scholars. As the law and scholarly commentaries on it expanded, the need
grew to codify and to regularize conflicting opinions. The basis for Roman law was the idea
that the exact form, not the intention, of words or of actions produced legal consequences.
Romans recognized that there are witnesses to actions and words, but not to intentions.
Roman civil law allowed great flexibility in adopting new ideas or extending legal principles
in the complex environment of the empire. Without replacing older laws, the Romans
developed alternative procedures that allowed greater fairness. For example, a Roman was
entitled by law to make a will as he wished, but, if he did not leave his children at least 25
percent of his property, the magistrate would grant them an action to have the will declared
2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy
invalid as an "irresponsible testament." Instead of simply changing the law to avoid
confusion, the Romans preferred to humanize a rigid system by flexible adaptation. It was not
until much later in the 6th century AD that the emperor Justinian I, who ruled over the
Byzantine Empire in the east, began to publish a comprehensive code of laws, collectively
known as the Justinian Code.3
Another great heritage of ancient world was Greek literature. The works were mainly on
religious themes, these were myths and inform the registry of heroes. It was only later began
to describe the daily lives of Greeks and current political events. The most famous of Greek
poets was Homer who was the author of the oldest masterpieces of European literature "Iliad"
and "Odyssey." Sappho is the first known ancient poet, author of love poetry, depicted in
paintings of kitara. She lived and created on the island of Lesbos for a period of great political
struggles. She was married to a wealthy merchant and his mother praised her daughter Kleis
in the works. Early widowed, later survived an unhappy love affair, which probably led her to
commit suicide. Creating a kind of cult compound, dedicated to the muses and goddess
Aphrodite, brought up young girls from good families, teaching them music, poetry, good
manners. Another writer, Anacreon was a poet of the Ionian. He was born in Teos in Asia
Minor. Was associated with the court of the tyrant of Samos, Polycrates and Hipparchus
tyrant, who ruled Athens.4
Greeks gave birth to the theatre which derives from the tradition of religious rites, especially
those related to the celebration in honor of Dionysus. The first art exhibited at the foot of the
hill marked out square, called the orchestra, and in the middle of the altar erected (thymele).
Theater of Dionysus became a model for other theaters built in Greece in the classical period.
In the Hellenistic period retained the basic elements of Greek theater, but changed its aspect
ratio. The Greek theaters’ roles could have been acted only by men who were also embodied
in the roles of women. Greek Theatre became the model for built at a later Roman theaters.5
Greek tragedies were created from the sixth century BC to the Roman period, all preserved in
their entirety, however, are the works of three great tragedians of Athens fifth century BC Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Greek tragedy was produced on stage only twice a year in urban Dionysus religious holidays - in the spring, and at the end of December. Was part of
3
http://www.unrv.com/government/laws.php
http://historia.pgi.pl/homer.php
5
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatr_grecki
4
religious rites in honor of Dionysus - the content of the tragedy, while there is almost no
references to the deity, its main principle is, however, the presence of the sacred.6
b. Jewish and Christian contribution
Jews are the longest-established minority in Europe with Jewish inscriptions in Greece dating
back to the 3rdCentury BCE. London’s East End and the Belleville quarter of Paris were once
thriving Jewish areas with Jewish shops, cafés, schools, libraries, publishing houses,
newspapers and theatres. In the harbour of Thessaloniki, before World War I, economic
activity stopped on the Day of Atonement. One-third of Warsaw’s population was Jewish in
the 1930s. Urbanisation and occupational specialisation has led to the identification of Jews
with specific streets, neighbourhoods and other urban phenomena.7
The role of Christianity in Europe, undoubtedly connected with issues relating to:

policy - including and. n. how to create state structures modeled on the structures of
the Church,

economy - the church was one of the elements of the feudal system,

society - religion exerted influence on the formation of social structures and
interaction was undoubtedly very important,

culture - which proposed the same (universalist) look at her creations such as science,
philosophy, art, etc.
In the field of the Church in the Middle Ages, exerting considerable influence, since arriving
on Polish territory monks were educated people, often righteous against the rulers of various
functions such as: consulting, led firms and many other state institutions. It happened that
even tried to take specific policy positions. Since the early Middle Ages the Church was part
of the feudal system. Through the investiture not only became addicted to seniors, which
often led to conflicts, but also accumulate wealth, which later brought huge economic gains.
As part of the archdiocese, diocese and parishes were created fortunes depend on the degree
of the size of the hierarchical level of wealth. Undoubtedly the greatest influence of
Christianity is reflected in terms of development of culture. Arriving clergy began organizing
every aspect of cultural life. This was expressed by: construction, architecture and art, right,
theology. Catholic Church's influence on the development of education and science marked in
6
7
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedia_grecka
http://www.judaica-europeana.eu/Downloads/LStanley-Clamp%20Judaica_Europeana15.3.pdf
their formation, development of teaching staff and the organization of education support
institutions such as libraries.8
c. Arabic influences
The contribution of Muslim culture in Spain to the preservation of classical learning during
the Dark Ages, and to the first flowerings of the Renaissance, has long been recognised. But
Islamic Spain was much more than a mere larder where Hellenistic knowledge was kept for
later consumption by the emerging modern Western world. Not only did Muslim Spain gather
and preserve the intellectual content of ancient Greek and Roman civilisation, it also
interpreted and expanded upon that civilisation, and made a vital contribution of its own in so
many fields of human endeavour - in science, astronomy, mathematics, algebra (itself an
Arabic word), law, history, medicine, pharmacology, optics, agriculture, architecture,
theology, music. Averroes and Avenzoor, like their counterparts Avicenna and Rhazes in the
East, contributed to the study and practice of medicine in ways from which Europe benefited
for centuries afterwards.
Islam nurtured and preserved the quest for learning. In the words of the tradition, 'the ink of
the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr'. Cordoba in the 10th century was by
far the most civilised city of Europe. We know of lending libraries in Spain at the time King
Alfred was making terrible blunders with the culinary arts in this country. It is said that the
400,000 volumes in its ruler's library amounted to more books than all the libraries of the rest
of Europe put together. That was made possible because the Muslim world acquired from
China the skill of making paper more than 400 years before the rest of non-Muslim Europe.
Many of the traits on which modern Europe prides itself came to it from Muslim Spain.
Diplomacy, free trade, open borders, the techniques of academic research, of anthropology,
etiquette, fashion, various types of medicine, hospitals, all came from this great city of cities.
Medieval Islam was a religion of remarkable tolerance for its time, allowing Jews and
Christians the right to practise their inherited beliefs, and setting an example which was not,
unfortunately, copied for many centuries in the West. The surprise, ladies and gentlemen, is
the extent to which Islam has been a part of Europe for so long, first in Spain, then in the
Balkans, and the extent to which it has contributed so much towards the civilisation which we
all too often think of, wrongly, as entirely Western. Islam is part of our past and our present,
8
http://historia.na6.pl/rola_chrzescijanstwa_w_sredniowieczu
in all fields of human endeavour. It has helped to create modern Europe. It is part of our own
inheritance, not a thing apart.9
Arabic contribution was to a big extend in field of Mathematics. Arab contributions to human
civilization are noteworthy. In arithmetic the style of writing digits from right to left is an
evidence of its Arab origin. Another invention that revolutionized mathematics was the
introduction of the number zero, Modern society takes the invention of the zero for granted,
yet the Zero is a non-trivial concept, that allowed major mathematical breakthroughs. Arab
civilizations also made a great contribution to fractions and to the principle of errors, which is
employed to solve Algebra problems arithmetically. It is also at the hand of the Arabs that the
geometry of conic sections was developed to a great extent.10
d. Renaissance ideas (Republic of Letters)
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century,
beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. As a
cultural movement, it encompassed a flowering of literature, science, art, religion, and
politics, and a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear
perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. Traditionally, this
intellectual transformation has resulted in the Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between
the Middle Ages and the Modern era. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many
intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its
artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo, who inspired the term "Renaissance man".11
Republic of Letters (Respublica literaria) is most commonly used to define intellectual
communities in the late 17th and 18th century in Europe and America. It especially brought
together the intellectuals of Age of Enlightenment. The Republic of Letters emerged in the
17th century as a self-proclaimed community of scholars and literary figures that stretched
across national boundaries but respected differences in language and culture. These
communities that transcended national boundaries formed the basis of a metaphysical
Republic. Because of societal constraints on women, the Republic of Letters consisted mostly
9
http://www.islam4theworld.net/contribution_muslims/Islam%27sContributionToEurope%27sRenaissance.htm
10
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/980422/1998042208.html
11
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance
of men. As such, many scholars use "Republic of Letters" and "men of letters"
interchangeably.
The circulation of handwritten letters was necessary for its function because it enabled
intellectuals to correspond with each other from great distances. All citizens of the 17th
century Republic of Letters corresponded by letter, exchanged published papers and
pamphlets, and considered it their duty to bring others into the Republic through the
expansion of correspondence.12
e. Enlightenment foundations of modernity
The transformations and changes happening in Europe between 16th and 19th centuries such
as the invention of printing press, rising of nation-states, colonialization of new lands,
standardization of time, development of linear perspective, among others led to demand new
ways of looking at, understanding and explaining things and events through the social science.
This preoccupied many great thinkers to theorize on the phenomena of changes. They set a
“wide-ranging system of ideas that deals with the centrally important issues of social life”
known as sociological theory. Two forces that shaped and brought about the development and
rise of sociological theories – the social and intellectual forces of that time.
At that time, present was conceived in three forms; 1) as an “era of the world distinct from
the others through some inherent characteristics, 2) a sign of a forthcoming event, 3) a point
of transition toward the dawning of a new world. Immanuel Kant departed from this
conception. He saw the present as an “exit” or “way out” from the state of “immaturity”
described as letting the others direct or lead in an area where one is unable to make use of
his/her reason when it is called for. He proposed a motto or instruction for Enlightenment –
Aude sapere, “dare to know,” or “have courage to use your own reason.” For Kant, he
characterized Enlightenment as both a task and obligation, individually and collectively. He
also distinguished the private use of reason and public use of reason. On one hand, when one
is a “cog in a machine” or plays a role in society, he make a private use of reason in
determined circumstances and ends in view. When one, on the other hand, uses reasoning as a
reasonable being and for reasoning’s sake, it is a public use of reason that must be free.
The representative of modernity, Foucault summarized what Kant’s description of
enlightenment as; “ the moment when humanity is going to put its own reason to use, without
12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Letters
subjecting itself to any authority; now it is precisely at this moment that the critique is
necessary, since its role is that of defining the conditions under which the use of reason is
legitimate in order to determine what can be known, what must be done, and what may be
hoped….. Enlightenment is the age of the critique.”
This, for Foucault, characterizes the
“attitude of modernity.” Although modernity has been referred to as an epoch in history,
sandwiched between premodernity and postmodernity, Foucault would like to picture it as an
attitude rather than an epoch of history. By attitude, he meant “a mode of relating to
contemporary reality; a voluntary choice made by certain people; in the end, a way of
thinking and feeling; a way too of acting and behaving that at one and the same time marks a
relation of belonging and presents itself as a task.”
13
2. Summary
Thus taking it all into account, it is seen that creation of European civilization was and still is
ongoing process. Every culture took a part in it, every new invention or discovery brought a
new perspective of looking at the world as a whole. Exchanges between European and Arabic
countries were not only significant because of the economy, equally important was the
knowledge gained during this actions.
13
http://mensab.wordpress.com/2007/11/03/reflection-on-enlightenment-and-modernity-rationality-andemancipation-within-culture/