Author: Dr Terry Cooke-Davies

Rethinking the “West is Best” Attitude to International Relations

As our world becomes more interconnected and interdependent, it’s crucial that we embrace diverse perspectives and foster genuine collaboration across cultures. A “West is Best” attitude has long dominated international relations, but a growing body of evidence from fields like anthropology, neuroscience, history, and political science calls for a reevaluation.

An international interdisciplinary academic study can bring together scholars from diverse fields and cultural backgrounds to challenge the “West is Best” narrative and explore alternative viewpoints. By incorporating insights from experts like Iain McGilchrist, Geoffrey Vickers, Eric Wolf, Hugo Mercier, and Bill Isaacs, this study can foster greater understanding, challenge biases, and promote collaboration across cultures and disciplines.

In these challenging times, let’s move beyond outdated attitudes and work together to build a more inclusive and cooperative world for all.

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1.05: The Roots of Modern Science

The roots of modern science reach backwards in time to before the great age of Greek and Hellenistic learning, and spread across Europe, Islamic empires, India and China. This article will review how the ideas of the Medieval and Renaissance periods nourished those roots.

This page contains links to resources used for Module 5 of the Shepway u3a course in Science, Philosophy and Spirituality

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1.04: The Rise and Fall of Christendom

Under the aegis of the Roman Empire, early Christianity morphed into Christendom and incorporated ideas from Greek philosophy. These composite ideas spawned the ‘natural philosophy’ that later became modern science. The Black Death, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment nurtured science and simultaneously planted the seeds of Christendom’s destruction.

In Europe, and consequently in America after its colonization by Europeans, Christendom helped shape the culture from which the world as we know it today emerged.

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