Is the West Declining? Philosophical Perspectives

 

The spectacular rise of China and the clash between the West and the Islamic world, particularly since 9/11, have raised anxiety that the West is declining, and sharpened the question whether the West’s way of life can be defended intellectually, morally, economically and militarily. The course examines various recent attempts to define and defend Western values, their philosophical assumption and historiographical tools by focusing on four central questions.
A) What are the West’s core values?
B) Are they culture-specific or universal?
C) How has postmodern relativism undermined the West’s self-perception?
D) Can Classical Western Liberalism be defended philosophically, morally and culturally?
We will also examine the implications of these views on the place of Western values in Israel’s public discourse.

Credits:
The course will be run as a seminar. After some introductory lectures, students will present the core theses of the various thinkers as starting points for class discussion. These presentations will be the basis for the papers to be handed in as final course requirements.