Western Humanities

Western Humanities

The Western Humanities covers a broad scope within the world as me know it today. Many of the influences and inspirations that many claim to motivate them to make continuous advancements are from a basis of our past. Whether it is art, literature or social movements we as a civilization must always look at our past as a blueprint. Our history is our blueprint for life. I think the purpose of studying the Western Humanities is to take a look at our past. No matter what race color or religion a majority of our countries’ people are a descendent of the Western world. Its almost like looking as a very large family tree and learning about it. There are many reasons that can be put together to define the actual meaning of humanities. Western Humanities, to me, can be found within the fine arts, geographical distribution, and religious influences. Overall, these factors have come together to give everyone across the world their history, known as humanities.

First of all, the fine arts have impacted our world with so much inspiration. These influences can be seen everywhere from the streets of France to the art galleries of New York City. You may have even read a poem written in a particular form. The fine arts have been a form of expression since the beginning of our civilization. One of the first known civilizations was an area known as Mesopotamia. Through this area an expression of art may be found in moldings and sculptures. As the west evolved so did these forms of expressions. Everything from the tools and thoughts to the materials used and the meanings behind them. A lot of meanings may have been in response to worshipping gods and warriors. As I look at today’s world not much has changed with our expressions. The materials used may be different yet the emotional desire behind the expression may well be the same. Today we use things such as computer generations, pop music and controversial literary works. The main focus of all of these examples is to express ones art. Art has been said to be within the eye of the beholder and that art was vandalism. Well, I admire the vandals. There are many great sculptures and poets from the Greek world to the Renaissance periods that it is no wonder that the influence carried throughout the rest of the western world. It seemed that with each...

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...arting to inspire one another with its structure. The buildings were not the only effects of religion but so were wars, laws and many political scandals. It is almost unbelievable to learn that faith was such a solid reason for many misunderstandings. Even the misunderstandings within faiths, especially Catholicism. I was amused and almost possessed a sense of comfort when a faith was simply based on the gods of thunder or goddess of love. I feel that I understand the many different religions now that I have seen them unfold to what they have become today.

In summary, the Western Humanities influenced many of today’s thoughts and expressions. The study of humanities has greatly impressed me. I have always been intrigued with political, geographical and art factors. The culmination of these teachings has explained why we are who we are today. The values and ideas of each of these factors continuously improved our world. Improvement is not necessarily defined as doing everything better but advancing. Although the western world experienced many trials and tribulations there are still many that have yet to be undergone for our civilizations “family tree”.