（Values such as freedom, individualism, democracy, and the market economy began to be clearly recognized in Western Europe from the 17th century onward. While white Westerners regard these values as unique to their own race, the situation was different in medieval Germanic societies.
Modern values took shape as economic development from the Middle Ages onward allowed more people to live independently of local ties and kinship. Modern values are not the exclusive domain of white Westerners.
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The source text is “In Search of Lost Modernity” by Akio KAWATO.
The English edition of this book 〔originally written in Japanese〕 is on
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hiRK7kjbX0Hxd2NOxPqtQlVWgjDHgKCr/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MB0Me9P5Lpa2HGceuJUdMqqQ2CRHQSxa/edit)
(The copyright belongs to the author, Akio Kawato)
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How the “Modern Values” Came into Being
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As stated earlier, the Industrial Revolution raised living standards in Britain, created a broad middle class, and helped foster democracy as people became more conscious of their rights.
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Western Europe is often credited with giving birth to core modern values: freedom, individualism, and democracy. In 1993, the European Union articulated the Copenhagen Criteria for membership, which include democratic governance, the rule of law, human rights, a functioning market economy, and fair competition.
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But these values were not “invented” by white Europeans. Even dogs desire freedom and independence. What Western societies should be proud of is not the values themselves, but the systems—economic, legal, and political—that allow large numbers of people to enjoy those values and resolve disputes peacefully while respecting each other’s rights.
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The longing for freedom and individual dignity goes back to ancient times. The ideas of Athenian philosophers—especially Aristotle’s discussions of democracy and populism in Politics—remain deeply relevant. Even the art of classical Athens reflected this shift: statues began portraying individual people with greater nuance and realism, in stark contrast to the earlier stylized forms reminiscent of Japan’s haniwa clay figures. Interestingly, this artistic revolution may have come from Egypt, suggesting that individualism has roots there as well.
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Some Westerners today seem to think that their ancestors were always free and democratic—unlike the supposedly collectivist and authoritarian cultures of Asia. But I don’t believe that the peasants, apprentices, and servants of medieval Europe were “free.” In comparison, the outlaws in “The Story of Water Margin” in medieval China seem far more liberated.
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Tacitus’s Germania does portray the Germanic tribes as strong and independent—but those descriptions applied to warriors. Their descendants, living as peasants in medieval Europe, had little freedom or dignity. In truth, “freedom” was a privilege for the few, not a universal right.
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That began to change in the 16th century. The Reformation challenged the dominance of the Catholic Church and opened the door to new thinking. Humanism and rationalism—philosophies that placed humans at the center of inquiry—emerged. In the 17th century, as material conditions improved, philosophers began theorizing about dignity, rights, and freedom.
Let’s now explore this process in more detail.
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The Trinity of Rationalism, Individualism, and Liberty Part 1: Rationalism
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The core values of modern Western civilization can be framed in different ways, but I would emphasize three: rationalism, individualism, and liberty. All humans possess these tendencies to some extent, but over the course of fifty years of observation, I’ve noticed that many Westerners—especially white Europeans—tend to exhibit a strong sense of independence and enterprise. Though I’ve criticized Western culture at times, I recognize this trait.
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Rationalism can be defined in many ways. Here, I define it as the habit of judging facts based on evidence rather than dogma. I’ve especially noticed this trait in Northern Europe. People there don’t seem overly concerned with customs or unspoken rules. They are less bound by ideology and more likely to choose practical actions based on their own logic and objectives. Necessary reforms tend to be carried out in a timely way. In that sense, they stand in contrast to the Japanese, who often defer to social conventions and vested interests and constantly worry about what others think.
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Rationalism is said to have been launched by the French philosopher René Descartes, who famously wrote, “I think, therefore I am,” in his 1637 work “Discourse on the Method”. In truth, others had expressed similar ideas before, but Descartes left the lasting mark.
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Rationalism helped advance science and learning on the European continent, while in Britain, it played a key role in politics as well. It also contributed to England’s separation from the Catholic Church. In the late 16th century, Francis Bacon (1561–1626) built on the ideas of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe and promoted a new, human-centered mode of inquiry. Bacon championed inductive reasoning—discovering truth through observation and experiment—as a superior alternative to the deductive reasoning that had dominated thought since ancient Greece.
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Deduction starts with a broad assertion—like “the world is water” or “humans are evil”—and then builds out logical conclusions from that premise. This often leads to dogma. Induction, by contrast, invites continual reevaluation and correction. Bacon’s followers founded the Royal Society in London, which advanced rationalist science and inquiry in Britain.
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But even induction is not immune to failure. Errors in observation or reasoning can turn it into a new kind of dogma. Consider David Hume (1711–1776), often hailed as the peak of British philosophy. In “A Treatise of Human Nature”, he wrote that Black people and non-Europeans were naturally inferior to whites and incapable of producing art, science, or great individuals. This was bad induction, based on limited and biased data—a dogma masquerading as reason. The West has produced many pseudo-intellectuals like him, but kudos to the common sense of the people, Hume’s books didn’t sell well.
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In the Netherlands, rationalist thinking began as early as the 15th century, backed by economic prosperity. I haven’t read widely on the subject, but early Dutch humanists included Rudolf Agricola, who criticized scholasticism; Hans Folz, who denounced indulgences; and Erasmus, whose 1511 book In Praise of Folly savagely satirized the corruption of the Catholic Church.
(to be continued to individualsim)
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