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Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization, Western lifestyle or European civilization is a term used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, and specific artifacts and technologies that have some origin or association with Europe, having both indigenous and foreign origin. The term has come to be applied by people of European ethnicity to countries whose history is strongly marked by European immigration, colonisation, and influence, such as the continents of the Americas and Australasia, whose current demographic majority is of European ethnicity, and is not restricted to the continent of Europe. Western culture is characterized by a host of artistic, philosophic, literary, and legal themes and traditions; the heritage of Greek, Roman, Celtic, Germanic Jewish,〔(THE ROLE OF JUDAISM IN WESTERN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION ), "Judaism has played a significant role in the development of Western culture because of its unique relationship with Christianity, the dominant religious force in the West". (Judaism ) at Encyclopedia Britannica〕 and other ethnic and linguistic groups,〔Kim Ann Zimmermann, 2012, "What is Culture? Definition of Culture," LiveScience, July 9, 2012, see (), accessed on 8 December 2014.〕〔Anon. (Western Culture Global), 2009, "Western Culture Knowledge Center: What is Western Culture?," see (), accessed on 8 December 2014.〕 as well as Christianity, including the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church, which played an important part in the shaping of Western civilization since at least the 4th century.〔(Roman Catholicism ), "Roman Catholicism, Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization". Encyclopedia Britannica〕〔Caltron J.H Hayas, ''Christianity and Western Civilization'' (1953),Stanford University Press, p.2: That certain distinctive features of our Western civilization — the civilization of western Europe and of America— have been shaped chiefly by Judaeo – Graeco – Christianity, Catholic and Protestant.〕〔Jose Orlandis, 1993, "A Short History of the Catholic Church," 2nd edn. (Michael Adams, Trans.), Dublin:Four Courts Press, ISBN 1851821252, preface, see (), accessed 8 December 2014.〕〔Thomas E. Woods and Antonio Canizares, 2012, "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization," Reprint edn., Washington, D.C.:Regnery History, ISBN 1596983280, PG. NOS., see (), accessed 8 December 2014. p.1: "Western civilization owes far more to Catholic Church than most people - Catholic included - often realize. The Church in fact built Western civilization."〕 Also contributing to Western thought, in ancient times and then in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance onwards, a tradition of rationalism in various spheres of life, developed by Hellenistic philosophy, Scholasticism, humanism, the Scientific revolution and the Enlightenment. Values of Western culture have, throughout history, been derived from political thought, widespread employment of rational argument favouring freethought, assimilation of human rights, the need for equality, and democracy. Historical records of Western culture in Europe begin with Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Western culture continued to develop with Christianisation during the Middle Ages, the reform and modernization triggered by the Renaissance, and with globalization by successive European empires, that spread European ways of life and European educational methods around the world between the 16th and 20th centuries. European culture developed with a complex range of philosophy, medieval scholasticism and mysticism, and Christian and secular humanism.〔Sailen Debnath, 2010, "Secularism: Western and Indian," New Delhi, India:Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, ISBN 8126913665, PG. NOS.〕 Rational thinking developed through a long age of change and formation, with the experiments of the Enlightenment, and breakthroughs in the sciences. Tendencies that have come to define modern Western societies include the existence of political pluralism, prominent subcultures or countercultures (such as New Age movements), and increasing cultural syncretism resulting from globalization and human migration. ==Terminology== The West as a geographical area is unclear. There is some disagreement about what nations should or should not be included in the category, and at what times. Many parts of the Eastern Roman Empire are considered Western today, but were Eastern in the past. Geographically, the "West" of today would include Europe (especially the European Union countries) together with extraeuropean territories belonging to the Anglosphere, as well as the Hispanidad, the Lusosphere or the Francophonie in the wider context. Since the context is highly biased and context-dependent, there is no agreed definition what the "West" is. It is difficult to determine which individuals fit into which category, and the East–West contrast is sometimes criticized as relativistic and arbitrary.〔Yin Cheong Cheng, ''New Paradigm for Re-engineering Education''. Page 369〕〔Ainslie Thomas Embree, Carol Gluck, ''Asia in Western and World History: A Guide for Teaching''. Page xvi〕〔Kwang-Sae Lee, ''East and West: Fusion of Horizons''〕 Globalism has spread Western ideas so widely that almost all modern cultures are, to some extent, influenced by aspects of Western culture. Stereotyped views of "the West" have been labelled ''Occidentalism'', paralleling Orientalism — the term for the 19th-century stereotyped views of "the East". As Europe discovered the wider world, old concepts adapted. The area that had formerly been considered the Orient ("the East") became the Near East, as the interests of the European powers interfered with Qing China and Meiji Japan for the first time, in the 19th century. Thus, the Sino-Japanese War in 1894–1895 occurred in the Far East, while the troubles surrounding the decline of the Ottoman Empire simultaneously occurred in the Near East.〔British archaeologist D.G. Hogarth published ''The Nearer East'' in 1902, which helped to define the term and its extent, including Albania, Montenegro, southern Serbia and Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, all Ottoman lands, the entire Arabian Peninsula, and Western parts of Iran.〕 The term Middle East, in the mid-19th century, included the territory east of the Ottoman Empire but West of China - i.e. Greater Persia and Greater India, but is now used synonymously with: Near East in most languages. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Western culture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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