Tag: Civilization

Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson

Fascinating, insightful book. Ferguson argues that not only is Western Civilization the greatest civilization in the history of the world, but that it has no need to apologize for itself, a view that may seem obvious to some but that has come under attack in recent years. He argues that the West developed five “killer …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/07/19/civilization-the-west-and-the-rest-by-niall-ferguson/

A History of Europe by J.M. Roberts

This is a big book, but not quite big enough to adequately cover 3000 years of history. Ancient Greece is covered in twenty pages, the Roman Empire in forty. However, the later chapters on the hegemonic years of Europe, when Europe was the center of power, culture, and civilization in the world, are quite interesting. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2010/04/12/a-history-of-europe-by-j-m-roberts/

Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud

Freud doesn’t get a lot of respect these days, but I found this book for the most part lucid and rational, if not exactly scientific. Part of Freud’s thesis borrows from Rousseau in arguing that civilization represents a compromise with the individual for the sake of preserving security, but for Freud this is problematic, because …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2009/07/18/civilization-and-its-discontents-by-sigmund-freud-2/