Finally the Truth about the Rise of the West Modernity developed only in the West—in Europe and North America. Nowhere else did science and democracy arise; nowhere else was slavery outlawed. Only Westerners invented chimneys, musical scores, telescopes, eyeglasses, pianos, electric lights, aspirin, and soap. The question is, Why? Unfortunately, that question has become so politically incorrect that most scholars avoid it. But acclaimed author Rodney Starkprovides the answers in this sweeping new look at Western civilization. How the West Won demonstrates the primacy of uniquely Western ideas—among them the belief in free will, the commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, the notion that the universe functions according to rational rules that can be discovered, and the emphasis on human freedom and secure property rights. Taking readers on a thrilling journey from ancient Greece to the present, Stark challenges much of the received wisdom about Western history. How the West Won shows, for example: • Why the fall of Rome was the single most beneficial event in the rise of Western civilization • Why the “Dark Ages” never happened • Why the Crusades had nothing to do with grabbing loot or attacking the Muslim world unprovoked • Why there was no “Scientific Revolution” in the seventeenth century • Why scholars’ recent efforts to dismiss the importance of battles are ridiculous: had the Greeks lost at the Battle of Marathon, we probably would never have heard of Plato or Aristotle Stark also debunks absurd fabrications that have flourished in the past few decades: that the Greeks stole their culture from Africa; that the West’s “discoveries” were copied from the Chinese and Muslims; that Europe became rich by plundering the non-Western world. At the same time, he reveals the woeful inadequacy of recent attempts to attribute the rise of the West to purely material causes—favorable climates, abundant natural resources, guns and steel. How the West Wondisplays Rodney Stark’s gifts for lively narrative history and making the latest scholarship accessible to all readers. This bold, insightful book will force you to rethink your understanding of the West and the birth of modernity—and to recognize that Western civilization really has set itself apart from other cultures.
How the West Won - The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity
Rodney Stark
Intercollegiate Studies Institute;
2015
464 páginas
15h 28m
ISBN-13: 9781610171397
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Rodney Stark
Rodney Stark nasceu em Jamestown, Dakota do Norte, e começou sua carreira como repórter de um jornal. Após uma visita ao serviço no Exército dos EUA, ele recebeu seu Ph.D. da Universidade da Califórnia, em Berkeley. Ele deixou Berkeley para se tornar professor de sociologia e de religião comparada na Universidade de Washington. Em 2004, ele se juntou a faculdade da Baylor University. Ele publicou 41 livros e mais de 160 artigos acadêmicos sobre temas tão diversos quanto o preconceito, o crime, o suicídio e a vida urbana na Roma antiga. No entanto, a maior parte do seu trabalho tem sido a religião. Ele é ex-presidente da Sociedade para o Estudo Científico da Religião e da Associação para a Sociologia da Religião. Ele também ganhou vários prêmios nacionais e internacionais. Muitos dos seus livros e artigos foram traduzidos e publicados em várias línguas, incluindo chinês, holandês, francês, alemão, grego, indonésio, italiano, japonês, coreano, polonês, português, romeno, russo, espanhol e turco.
9 Livros
1 Seguidor
Dakota do Norte, Estados Unidos da América