» re: thabet’s post on “the west vs. the … Talk Islam

razib

08:01:01 pm on July 19, 2008 | # | |

re: thabet’s post on “the west vs. the rest as a false dichotomy,” i don’t think that these sorts of typologies are ever *false* or *true*, they just have utility on a case by case basis. aggregate patterns of utility can result in a pretty robust generalization, e.g., chinese vs. classical greek civilization is a dichotomy that has many problems on the margins but gives one “free information” in the categorization. the west vs. islam is harder because both these civilizations are coalitions of many cultures and they are derived from an intersection of sources, but in certain circumstances i do think it holds great utility. specifically, as opposed to starting with these categories *a priori* i think they’re useful organizers of a narrative as it proceeds along time & space.
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thabet 11:32 pm on July 19, 2008 | #

Err… what post?

In general, I concur. It is difficult to draw sharp lines between ‘Western civilisation’ and ‘Islamic civilisation’.

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