The Cultural Dimension of Europe
LECTURE 1 THE GREEK AND THE ROMAN WORLD
Culture is everything that people have, think and do as members of their society.
Have: Material objects
Think: Ideas, values, attitudes
Do: Patterns of behaviour
Members: Culture is shared
Broad: Cultural differences, multiculturalism, all collective expressions of a group/society
Narrow: Ministry of cultural affairs, art, science, the higher/finer things in life
Personality: Specific to individuals, Inherited & learned
Culture: Specific to a group or category & learned
Human Nature: Universal & inherited
Culture expresses itself in heroes, symbols, values and rituals.
Symbols: Things with a meaning that is recognized best by those who share this
culture (religious, symbolise)
Heroes: Role models (religious, political, sport)
Rituals: Behaviour that occur regularly and is socially essential (marriage, funeral,
handshake)
Values: Collective evaluation of things (values and norms)
Intercultural: Levels of culture in the world. Global, European, National, Regional, Youth,
Organizational and Human Culture are all cultural differences. Cultural differences are
different perspectives on the same subject. For example: Greeting someone with a hand,
which is normal for us but maybe rude to someone from the United Arabs.
Europe = Complex, multi-layered, dynamic.
Human Culture
Definition:
Tackling problem posed by nature
Tackling problems posed by their own bodies
Solving problems of living together in a society
Culture = the older term introduced by roman authors to denote the entire human actions.
More in cause with nature
Civilization was introduced by the French in the eighteenth century. It was used as a
synonym for the word polished. Defining Europe back in the days.
Enlightenment according to Kant: Man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.
Kant: Unmunidgkeit (minderjarigheid) = Inability to use one’s reason without guidance
(Leitung) from another. Enlightenment is our own way of thinking. Coming up with answers
without the thought that god had something to do with it. It stood for rationality and
individuality. Other words for enlightenment are illumination, liberation and elevation. The
European culture is made on the enlightenment that happened during the French revolution.
1
, Concept/reasoning vs myths and storytelling
Mere opinion vs real knowledge.
Key ideas Enlightenment:
Rationality: Science/technology
Individuality: Freedom/democracy
Revolutions, around 1800:
Industrial Revolution: Rationality and science
French revolution: Individuality and freedom (1789)
American revolution: Similar ideas (1776)
Modern Enlightenment rooted in Greek Enlightenment and is from: Descartes, Kant and
Rousseau.
The Greek Enlightenment is from Plato, Socrates and Aristoteles. But it was not appreciated
back then.
Enlightenment vs romanticism
Reason vs emotion
Objectivity vs subjectivity
The universal vs the personal
The future vs the past
Control over nature vs participation in nature
Science vs art
Knowledge vs stories
(6th century BCE) The Greek enlightenment
The first philosophers entered Asia Minor in part of Hellas. Instead of myths/storytelling the
Greek enlightenment was something different, concept/reasoning. The Greek enlightenment
philosophers were living in Athens around 400. They were Socrates, Plato, Aristotle.
Socrates: He only held dialogues on the streets, but never had written a book about his
thoughts. He became famous because of Plato, his pupil. He put a lot of his dialogue into
script. The basic concepts Socrates talked about were justice, politics, friendship, love and
beauty. He asked questions about mere opinion vs real knowledge, ‘sophia’.
Plato: Pupil of Socrates. He founded the Akademeia, philosophy teaching. He also thought
about the cave allegory but he never wrote about it.
Aristotle: Pupil of Plato. He actually rejected the divide between the two worlds, because he
believed that the forms are in the sensible things. Het is considered as the father of science.
Eventually he became the tutor of Alexander the Great.
Philo-sophia
Philia = Friendship, fondness, liking for
Sophia = Wisdom, learning, intelligence
The cave allegory is about ruling the city state, also on justice and truth. This was presented
by Plato.
Opinion vs wisdom/knowledge
Sensual/treacherous world vs rational/true world
2
, The true world is already in you, but without realizing it yet. To get to the ‘turning of the soul’
there is need for education. The turn towards the rational/true world is also known as the
enlightenment. From the darkness (cave) to the light (upper world).
There are three parts of the soul:
Reason
Spirit
Appetite
RIETBERGEN
The name of Europe comes from a mythical story about a Phoenician princess (Europa) who
was abducted and raped by Zeus and taken to Crete.
The Greek considered the Mediterranean to be the centre of all lands. The sea who divided
Asia, Africa and Europe.
Asia: Civilized but politically and military unsound
Africa: Black and uncivilized
Europe: Most civilized and the strongest region. The civilization was concentrated in
free, independent and democratic city states which maintained a balance of power.
These states where sharing the same religious cultural traditions and language:
Hellas (a cultural community, a civilization).
Civilization = beschaving/culture
The Greek feared their powerful neighbours. Europe, aka the Greek sphere of influence.
Why was the Greek civilization good? Because of the climate. It was either warm or cold and
that made the people active and flexible. In Africa and Asia it was even warmer, people
where less flexible and more inactive and easily led by tyrannical kings. They were
considered as different and foreign. Barbarians: Those who don’t speak Greek.
Main difference: The climate, linguistic distinction (taalkundig onderscheid), absolutism
(political doctrine).
Alexander the Great 356-323bc a Macedonian king and educated by Aristotle
Alexander the Great concerned many lands, brought the essence of civilization to these
regions and gave them the values and language of the Greeks. After Alexander the Great
died his kingdoms were divided between his generals. The kingdoms emerged elements
from the Greek culture and the pre-existing traditions of those religions: Hellenistic.
Many adopted the Greek language, literary and art combining these with their own
Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian or Syrian heritage.
The Hellenistic world was soon threatened by the armies of the roman empire and
conquered all lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The world of polic (city) was past.
The time for cosmopolitan (citizen of the world) had come. A new culture emerged.
Alexandria became an international port, an intercultural interface, the most prosperous
(welvarend) city in the Mediterranean. In Alexandria the phenomena know as libraries and
museums came into existence. The great museion: museum, library and university.
3
LECTURE 1 THE GREEK AND THE ROMAN WORLD
Culture is everything that people have, think and do as members of their society.
Have: Material objects
Think: Ideas, values, attitudes
Do: Patterns of behaviour
Members: Culture is shared
Broad: Cultural differences, multiculturalism, all collective expressions of a group/society
Narrow: Ministry of cultural affairs, art, science, the higher/finer things in life
Personality: Specific to individuals, Inherited & learned
Culture: Specific to a group or category & learned
Human Nature: Universal & inherited
Culture expresses itself in heroes, symbols, values and rituals.
Symbols: Things with a meaning that is recognized best by those who share this
culture (religious, symbolise)
Heroes: Role models (religious, political, sport)
Rituals: Behaviour that occur regularly and is socially essential (marriage, funeral,
handshake)
Values: Collective evaluation of things (values and norms)
Intercultural: Levels of culture in the world. Global, European, National, Regional, Youth,
Organizational and Human Culture are all cultural differences. Cultural differences are
different perspectives on the same subject. For example: Greeting someone with a hand,
which is normal for us but maybe rude to someone from the United Arabs.
Europe = Complex, multi-layered, dynamic.
Human Culture
Definition:
Tackling problem posed by nature
Tackling problems posed by their own bodies
Solving problems of living together in a society
Culture = the older term introduced by roman authors to denote the entire human actions.
More in cause with nature
Civilization was introduced by the French in the eighteenth century. It was used as a
synonym for the word polished. Defining Europe back in the days.
Enlightenment according to Kant: Man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.
Kant: Unmunidgkeit (minderjarigheid) = Inability to use one’s reason without guidance
(Leitung) from another. Enlightenment is our own way of thinking. Coming up with answers
without the thought that god had something to do with it. It stood for rationality and
individuality. Other words for enlightenment are illumination, liberation and elevation. The
European culture is made on the enlightenment that happened during the French revolution.
1
, Concept/reasoning vs myths and storytelling
Mere opinion vs real knowledge.
Key ideas Enlightenment:
Rationality: Science/technology
Individuality: Freedom/democracy
Revolutions, around 1800:
Industrial Revolution: Rationality and science
French revolution: Individuality and freedom (1789)
American revolution: Similar ideas (1776)
Modern Enlightenment rooted in Greek Enlightenment and is from: Descartes, Kant and
Rousseau.
The Greek Enlightenment is from Plato, Socrates and Aristoteles. But it was not appreciated
back then.
Enlightenment vs romanticism
Reason vs emotion
Objectivity vs subjectivity
The universal vs the personal
The future vs the past
Control over nature vs participation in nature
Science vs art
Knowledge vs stories
(6th century BCE) The Greek enlightenment
The first philosophers entered Asia Minor in part of Hellas. Instead of myths/storytelling the
Greek enlightenment was something different, concept/reasoning. The Greek enlightenment
philosophers were living in Athens around 400. They were Socrates, Plato, Aristotle.
Socrates: He only held dialogues on the streets, but never had written a book about his
thoughts. He became famous because of Plato, his pupil. He put a lot of his dialogue into
script. The basic concepts Socrates talked about were justice, politics, friendship, love and
beauty. He asked questions about mere opinion vs real knowledge, ‘sophia’.
Plato: Pupil of Socrates. He founded the Akademeia, philosophy teaching. He also thought
about the cave allegory but he never wrote about it.
Aristotle: Pupil of Plato. He actually rejected the divide between the two worlds, because he
believed that the forms are in the sensible things. Het is considered as the father of science.
Eventually he became the tutor of Alexander the Great.
Philo-sophia
Philia = Friendship, fondness, liking for
Sophia = Wisdom, learning, intelligence
The cave allegory is about ruling the city state, also on justice and truth. This was presented
by Plato.
Opinion vs wisdom/knowledge
Sensual/treacherous world vs rational/true world
2
, The true world is already in you, but without realizing it yet. To get to the ‘turning of the soul’
there is need for education. The turn towards the rational/true world is also known as the
enlightenment. From the darkness (cave) to the light (upper world).
There are three parts of the soul:
Reason
Spirit
Appetite
RIETBERGEN
The name of Europe comes from a mythical story about a Phoenician princess (Europa) who
was abducted and raped by Zeus and taken to Crete.
The Greek considered the Mediterranean to be the centre of all lands. The sea who divided
Asia, Africa and Europe.
Asia: Civilized but politically and military unsound
Africa: Black and uncivilized
Europe: Most civilized and the strongest region. The civilization was concentrated in
free, independent and democratic city states which maintained a balance of power.
These states where sharing the same religious cultural traditions and language:
Hellas (a cultural community, a civilization).
Civilization = beschaving/culture
The Greek feared their powerful neighbours. Europe, aka the Greek sphere of influence.
Why was the Greek civilization good? Because of the climate. It was either warm or cold and
that made the people active and flexible. In Africa and Asia it was even warmer, people
where less flexible and more inactive and easily led by tyrannical kings. They were
considered as different and foreign. Barbarians: Those who don’t speak Greek.
Main difference: The climate, linguistic distinction (taalkundig onderscheid), absolutism
(political doctrine).
Alexander the Great 356-323bc a Macedonian king and educated by Aristotle
Alexander the Great concerned many lands, brought the essence of civilization to these
regions and gave them the values and language of the Greeks. After Alexander the Great
died his kingdoms were divided between his generals. The kingdoms emerged elements
from the Greek culture and the pre-existing traditions of those religions: Hellenistic.
Many adopted the Greek language, literary and art combining these with their own
Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian or Syrian heritage.
The Hellenistic world was soon threatened by the armies of the roman empire and
conquered all lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The world of polic (city) was past.
The time for cosmopolitan (citizen of the world) had come. A new culture emerged.
Alexandria became an international port, an intercultural interface, the most prosperous
(welvarend) city in the Mediterranean. In Alexandria the phenomena know as libraries and
museums came into existence. The great museion: museum, library and university.
3
