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There is no such thing as western civilisation | The values of liberty, tolerance and rational inquiry are not the birthright of a single culture. In fact, the very notion of something called ‘western culture’ is a modern invention
Like many Englishmen who suffered from tuberculosis in the 19th century, Sir Edward Burnett Tylor went abroad on medical advice, seeking the drier air of warmer regions. Tylor came from a prosperous Quaker business family, so he had the resources for a long trip.
There is no such thing as western civilisation | Kwame Anthony Appiah
theguardian.com




Yes, nobody has a monopoly on those ideas, but the idea of an Eastern and western camp has been alive for far longer than the author suggests; as long as trade and war have ricocheted people and ideas around the place, and not owing only to thinkers well known in Europe. For another perspective of this, see 'Occidentalism,' by Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit.
Western culture holds no monopoly true, nonetheless the western world is at the forefront when it comes to liberty (democracy, freedom of press, etc.) and tolerance (towards other cultures, religions and sexuality).