Ragz

Which of the following do you feel was most influential to Western Civilization?

fdowers

How do I vote? I don't see where? Can some one fix this or tell me what to do?

Lord_Cronus

I said Greek philosophy. It was keen in that our government was setup according to the Greek ideals.

Nikd

I voted other because the modern western civilization was influenced from many sources.

Greek philosophy (Plato, Aristotelis), culture (Arts, Architecture, theatre), scientific view of the world (Ionian physicians, Pithagoras, Eratosthenis), medicine (Hippokratis).
Roman way of thinking and government (organization, bureaucracy, law), still influence our life.
Christianity.

Comet

I agree with you Nik...I don't think there is one significant source that influences the development of Western Civilization, but several. In fact, I would take all of these as a major reason for Western development. However, if I had to choose just one, I would probably go with Roman law. I think the role of citizenship within a given nation is important today and it's a concept that still exists.

Nick

Greek philosophy.

Dr Realism

The defining element of Western Civilization is individuality. It's what seperates us from Eastern Civilization. Meaning that we are free to pursue our dreams. Our future is ours and nobody can tell us what our dreams have to be. We are not judged by who are fathers or grandfathers were. If your father was a jacka$s, you need not give him respect, and typically, we don't give much heed to what society thinks of us. We bow and pay homage to nobody unless we want to. The West is all about the individual.

Lucius

I like that. I would answer differently and say liberal democracy - i.e. respect for human rights and a broad voting franchise. I would say that capitalism is the next most defining element - we're all good capitalists now.

heikstheo

I voted Other. I figure that the most important contribution of the ancient world to Western Civilization was Herodotus' contribution: the study of history.

JerseyPerson14

I would say the gun eventhough i think the crossbow was equal to the first guns