Are There Cultural Borders between East and West?

Abstract

This question is thrown up by the awareness of the deepening contradictions at the world-wide level of civilization. In this context politicians often talk of a ‘clash’. It seems right to explore the reasons for these contradictions, which have their roots in history. The author believes it is not possible to talk en bloc about ‘eastern culture’, or ‘the civilization of the East’. On the other hand, he thinks the expressions ‘western culture’ and ‘western civilization’ do refer to a concrete reality. And this is because the West is in many respects a coherent idea, particularly in terms of religion. We need to attend to the ever topical relationship between Faith and Science, which emerged in culture's earliest times, and ask ourselves why the main monotheistic religions, with the notable exception of Christianity, have held back the development of science and technology. Though we often focus on exchanges between East and West, travelling in a westward direction (the return of many of Hellenic civilization's achievements via Arab thought), we should certainly not ignore the movements in the opposite direction which are closely related to an attraction towards the achievements of the great eastern civilizations.