CULTURE AND VALUES

Culture and Values

The Influence On American Culture By The Roman Empire

Cultures have been generally labeled as eastern or western depending on which part of the globe that particular culture is, if it is in the east it came to be known as eastern culture, and similarly for western culture. However, there is a lot of difference between various cultures as a particular culture consists of customs, ideas, values and many other traits, which are different for different cultures. Western culture has been a source of constant inspiration for aspiration, and people around the world have used the terms western culture and modernization interchangeably. The history of western culture is replete with many events that have influenced it and shaped its present form and structure. Important among them (and responsible for the present European version of western culture) is the development at the hands of the Greeks, its expansion by the Romans, and then further enrichment by the Europeans (Standage, 2005).

With the downfall of the Roman Empire, everything about the Greco-Roman culture, arts and science was lost. The kings of different regions in Europe waged a war among themselves and there was political instability all over. The advent of Roman Catholicism helped to stabilize the tensions and preserved art, literature, and science through the many Churches, seminaries, and cathedrals at a time when it was hard to preserve them (Harris, 2003). The most vital and long lasting effects occurred, in the late Middle Ages, during Renaissance, which started in the city of Florence; and from there spread to the rest of Europe, when different disciplines were encouraged like literature, painting, art, science, religion, philosophy etc. It led to total reformation and redevelopment. This, in turn, had many effects on the more creative and intellectual fields, such as technology, medical advancement, and scientific capability.

The Enlightenment period focused on reasoning as the fountainhead for all validity and authority. It depended more on science and reasoning to answer the questions of the people. It advocated questioning of conventional wisdom, beliefs and traditions, which were not based on some strong foundations of rationality and scientific intellectual. The Enlightenment was a source of inspiration for many revolutions in the West; it resulted in the success of the American Revolution, and the Atlantic Revolution. Much of the present form of Western culture has been derived from the culture of the past. The western culture today is ...