Metamorfozele culturii occidentale: de la origini la contemporaneitate

Abstract

Certainly, what characterizes European countries are the phenomena such as: representative democracy, separation of powers in a state, independent justice, neutral administration, mechanisms for the protection of human rights, religious tolerance, freedom of scientific research, freedom of enterprise and labor, protection of private tangible and intangible property. These are events that allowed the emergence of the modern world and assured the West of its internal successes, as well as its geopolitical preeminence over the rest of the planet. All these reforming elements which cover different areas such as political life, culture and the economy, have the same essential axis. They promoted a new model of organizing human society: order through pluralism. This conception designates a social order that does not reflect a preexisting natural structure nor is it artificially created by an authority, but is spontaneously constituted by the sum of the free initiatives of individuals. This social order is more effective in solving essential social problems than any previously known form. The paper highlights the fact that these metamorphoses have allowed the West to develop a new civilizational model based on the principles of democracy, intellectual and economic liberalism, which have proved to be so productive that it is no exaggeration to speak of a leap in the evolution of humanity.