Suggested Answers to the First Short Quiz

Post Reply
johnkarls
Posts: 2034
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Suggested Answers to the First Short Quiz

Post by johnkarls »

.
Suggested Answers to the First Short Quiz Entitled “Before Cracking the Book”


This is one of those occasional Short Quizzes that Yours Truly was forced to compose before the arrival from Amazon.com of our focus book.

[It was ordered immediately following our Wed Dec 9 meeting and has yet to arrive (Wed Dec 16) even though 7 other orders (including one for a different book) were placed since Wed Dec 9 and each of those arrived within the 1-2 day Amazon Prime promise.]

Nevertheless, it is good practice before “cracking a book” to consider what the book PROBABLY contains and to consider what questions you would like to have answered (whether or not you entertain “high hopes” that they will be).

In addition, we are in the middle of one of our 4 times/year 5-week gaps between monthly meetings during which we have TWO short quizzes, so questions based on the book can still be captured in the second quiz.


Question 1

Is Prof. G. John Ikenberry the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton U and Co-Director of Princeton’s Center for International Security Studies, the author of eight books and editor or co-editor of another 14, and the winner of numerous awards?

Answer 1

Yes.

Question 2

Is Foreign Affairs Magazine the nation’s premier magazine in the field of foreign relations?

Answer 2

Yes.

Question 3

Did Prof. Ikenberry write for Foreign Affairs Magazine a so-called “Capsule Review” of our focus book (Prof. Ferguson’s “Civilization: The West and the Rest”) that said -

"This enjoyably sprawling history of “the rise of the West,” written for a general audience, follows in the footsteps of major works by such scholars as John Darwin, Jared Diamond, William NcNeill, and Douglass North. Like them, Ferguson grapples with the grand puzzle of the modern world: Why did the West, which in 1500 was no more advanced than the other world civilizations -- most notably China, India, and Islam -- rise up over the following five centuries to amass great power and wealth and come to dominate the world? Ferguson rejects explanations that focus on European imperialism or the uniqueness of geography, climate, or culture. Instead, he argues that Western ascendency was unleashed by the uniquely decentralized, open, rule-based, and competitive character of European politics, economics, and society. Individual chapters look at the role of competition, science, property rights, medicine, consumer society, and the work ethic in distinguishing the West. The book is written with an eye on the rise of China and leaves the reader with a crucial question: Are the ideas and institutions of Western civilization becoming truly universal, or will the rise of non-Western states usher in alternative pathways to modernization and advancement?"

Answer 3

Yes.

Question 4

Is Prof. Ferguson’s premise (as claimed in the “Capsule Review”) correct that “the West, which in 1500 was no more advanced than the other world civilizations” thereafter achieved superiority, inter alia, in “science” and “medicine” accurate?

Answer 4

Please read further Q&A-5 and Q&A-6.

Question 5

Or isn’t it really true that Europe was an intellectual “back water” not only through 1500 but also much longer with, for example, Arab medical texts still standard in Europe through the 1800’s and Arab science still in the forefront with the invention of Arabic numerals, the concept of zero, preeminence in the fields of mathematics, astronomy and geography (in order to make one’s Hajj to Mecca as required by Islam), etc., etc.?

Answer 5

Yes.

Question 6

So much so that if an Arab could NOT “hack it” in the Arab world, s/he could always find employment in Europe as the “Court Sage” for one of Europe’s zillions of countries/principalities?

Answer 6

Yes.

Question 7

Is Prof. Ferguson (as claimed in the “Capsule Review”) correct to reject “European imperialism” as an explanation for Western ascendancy?

Answer 7

Please read further Q&A-8 thru Q&A-16.

Question 8

First of all, do you think a good Buddhist would agree that Western culture did indeed ascend over Buddhism and/or Hinduism (NB: the first Buddha died thinking he was still a Hindu monk)?

Answer 8

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 9

After all, isn’t “Good Karma” -- common to both Buddhism and Hinduism -- much more important than whether some of this world’s tyrants are brandishing their swords in your vicinity and demanding payments of tribute?

Answer 9

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 10

Even if you agree that “brandishing your sword” to require tribute from others is the proper way of measuring “ascendancy,” hasn’t Prof. Ferguson (as claimed in the “Capsule Review”) overlooked the PRIMARY CAUSE of Western domination of other cultures?

Answer 10

Please read further Q&A-11 thru Q&A-16.

Question 11

In other words, didn’t Christ command His disciples in Mark 16:15 – “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”?

Answer 11

Yes.

Question 12

And wasn’t Christopher Columbus’ so-called “Discovery of The New World” in 1492 followed immediately in 1493 by a decree by Pope Alexander VI awarding Spain “ownership” of “all newly discovered AND UNDISCOVERED lands” beyond a meridian west of which lay all of “The New World”?

Answer 12

Yes.

Question 13

And didn’t Portugal dispute this “award” with the result that the dividing line was moved by the Treat of Tordesillas westward to the 46-Degrees 30-Minutes West-of-Greenwich Meridian, giving Portugal the coast of modern-day Brazil? And didn’t Pope Julius II sanction the change in 1506?

Answer 13

Yes.

Question 14

So isn’t it more likely that European forays into other areas of the world were spawned by Christ’s command in Mark 16:15 implemented by Papal decrees dividing up the world – with some of the missionaries realizing how much wealth could be amassed from the areas being converted by the missionaries – following which those who began amassing great wealth began inducing their sovereigns to provide military support and colonial organization/structure? Or do you think the time line was vice versa?

Answer 14

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 15

Isn’t it true that “competition” and “property rights” (two of Prof. Ferguson’s six factors producing Western “ascendancy”) were exhibited IN THE EXTREME during the scramble among European nations for worldwide empires, which lasted through World War II?

Answer 15

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 16

And should the colonial masters be given credit for noticing the scientific discoveries of the societies they conquered militarily? After all, Prof. Ferguson (per the “Capsule Summary”) praises “competition” and “work ethic” but wouldn’t it have taken a miracle for the conquerors NOT to have realized the profitability in exploiting any scientific discoveries of conquered societies? [NB: this is NOT to say that there were no scientific discoveries made by Europeans.]

Answer 16

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 17

What is the answer to Prof. Ferguson’s “crucial question” (per the “Capsule Review”) of whether American or Chinese “ideas and institutions” will prevail in the future?

Answer 17

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 18

In other words (which Prof. Ferguson may not accept), is the United States DOOMED BY ITS INSTITUTIONS AND ITS FORM OF GOVERNMENT to be destroyed like any species that is eaten by any species higher up “the food chain”?

Answer 18

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!


**********
Plea for Understanding

Please believe that Yours Truly was NOT attempting to “rain on anyone’s parade” or be offensive with any of the foregoing questions.

And that the questions were merely an honest attempt to analyze the world the way it is/was/will be, rather than an attempt to “look the other way” with “rose-colored glasses”!!!

Post Reply

Return to “Participant Comments – Civilization: The West and the Rest by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Jan 13”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests