Lukin, Alexander

Abstract
Since the Enlightenment, the driving concepts of Western civilisation have been the belief in its own superiority and the theory of linear progress in human society. According to this understanding, the West (firstly Europe, and later the United States) reached the highest and most advanced level of development, with all other countries moving along the same continuum, although lagging behind and located at various stages of proximity to this ideal.
In fact, many civilisations have considered themselves superior to others. The Ancient Greeks, Romans, medieval Chinese and many others all believed that they had reached the pinnacle of social development. However, the last few centuries of industrial success and military power have reinforced the theory of the West’s superiority, with the result that Western notions of progress have long captured the thinking of most of the world.
During the Enlightenment, the West’s idea that its civilisation was superior only changed in form, shifting from the superiority of Christianity as a fundamentally new set of teachings that, with the West as its vehicle, launched a new start to history, to a more secular theory of the West leading the world in social and economic progress. In place of Christian notions of morality and the meaning of life came a new, higher ideal of building a better world through industrial development, a market economy and individual freedoms.
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