현대 문명담론의 이해와 전망 - 2 - 현대 문명강권주의 비판담론: 반서구중심주의를 중심으로 -

Abstract

‘Eurocentrism’ means a view of the world emphasizing on innate superiority of the West by making the East alien in the divided structure of the East and the West. It has the root on the 18th century Enlightenment that became the ideological basement of the modern Europe with the concept in the background of ‘civilization’ that had been made relatively standardized in the period of enlightenment. And this concept of civilization got to have the characteristics of Westernization or Modernization with the system and values representing the West and later the ‘globalization’ became understood just as the progress of Westernization and Modernization. In this progress Western people have reinforced discrimination of the world civilization dividing the world as ‘civilized people’ in the West and ‘savage people’ in the rest world. In this view, we can understand that ‘Eurocentrism’ is the reorganized mythology in the modern area. This Eurocentrism consists of two elements, Western exceptionalism and Orientalism. ‘Western exceptionalism’ insists that Western culture is extraordinary and exceptional having the proposition that Western civilization is unique, innate, and permanent. That is to say, there is not rational, creative, and progressive civilization in the world except the West. And also in the concept of ‘Orientalism’, there is underlying the stereotyped image of superior Western self-confidence defining the East as the inferior alien. Even though these two concepts have progressed simultaneously, the Western exceptionalism is the self-image of Western civilization made by the Western people in the early modern days and Orientalism is non-Western civilization constructed with distortion through the mirror of the West by Western people. This study has the aim to break up Western civilization authoritarianism which is urging dominance of central civilization by dividing the world as the East and the West with irrational ideology like this. In this context, this study reviewed lots of liberal discourses in the East and the West with ‘Cosmopolitan vision’ protesting the control by hegemonic culture and behavior of exclusive civilization. At last the discourses on the modern civilization awaken the idea of ‘humankind sharing a common destiny’ in which ecological philosophy is reflected or progressed in the close relationship and the current civilization has been made through interaction between world’s people. In addition, this theory confirms the sense of ecological civilization of common humanity communicating with others having the attitude of protecting life, human right, and human freedom. In other words, it requires ‘the discourse on civilization of ecology’ of coexistence of civilization based on mutual equality between subjects.