Occident
The Occident is a term for the West, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Western world. It is the antonym of the term Orient, referring to the Eastern world. In English, it has largely fallen into disuse. The term occidental is often used to describe objects from the Occident but can be considered an outdated term by some. The term originated with geographical divisions mirroring the cultural divide between the Greek East and the Latin West, and the political divide between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.
The notion of “Occident” in philosophical traditions is primarily discussed using terms that denote “West” or the place where the sun sets, but these terms carry different cultural and political connotations across various languages and historical periods.
In Western/European Philosophical Traditions Within Western philosophical and cultural discourse, several terms have been used to refer to the ‘West’, often in contrast to the ‘Orient’ (East):
- The West / Western World / Western Culture / Western Civilization The most common contemporary English terms, which refer to the cultures and societies historically rooted in Greco-Roman antiquity, European history, and Christianity, and later including the Americas and Australasia.
- Occident (from Latin occidens, meaning “setting sun” or “west”) The formal term, often used in academic and philosophical contexts to create a clear opposition to “Orient”.
- Abendland (German for “evening land”) This term was used extensively in German Romantic and historical philosophy, particularly by figures like Oswald Spengler (in The Decline of the West or Der Untergang des Abendlandes) and Friedrich Schlegel, to refer to the idea of a unified “Latin Christendom” or “Europe” with specific cultural and religious foundations.
- Christendom An older term used before “The West” gained prominence, particularly in the Middle Ages, emphasizing the shared Christian identity of the region.
- Europa (Europe) Used often as a geographical and sometimes a cultural or political entity, though some thinkers like Auguste Comte preferred “l’Occident” to define a specific “vanguard of Humanity” beyond mere geography.
- Alteuropa (German for “Old Europe”) A more recent historiographical term that refers to the pre-industrial, religiously founded European society, distinct from the modern political construct.
In Non-Western Philosophical and Cultural Traditions Non-Western traditions rarely use a single, direct philosophical equivalent for the Western notion of the “Occident” as a unified cultural or philosophical sphere. Instead, references to “the West” often appear within discourses on colonialism, modernity, and cultural identity:
- The West / “The Occident” (as an object of study/critique) In academic and political thought from non-Western regions, particularly in post-colonial philosophy, the English term “the West” is used in discussions related to Occidentalism. Occidentalism, mirroring Edward Said’s Orientalism, is the study or stereotyping of Western culture by non-Westerners, often portraying the West as materialistic, decadent, or imperialistic.
- Maghreb (Arabic: مَغْرِب) Literally meaning “the sunset” or “the west”, this term in the Arab world refers specifically to the western part of North Africa, a geographical region, rather than a broad philosophical or cultural concept of the “Occident” in a global sense.
- Concepts within Indian/Chinese Traditions Philosophers in traditions like the Vedic, Chinese, or Japanese do not have a single, long-standing philosophical term for “the West” that functions the way “Occident” does in Western thought. The differences are often discussed in terms of philosophical approaches (e.g., Eastern emphasis on spiritual unity and inner transformation vs. Western emphasis on rational inquiry and empirical methods) rather than via a specific naming convention for the “other” tradition.
- “Occidental” in specific contexts In some instances, non-Western cultures have used their own language equivalents for “Western countries” during periods of modernization (e.g., Meiji Japan extensively imported Western ideas, referring to them in Japanese terms for “Western”).
Overall, the term “Occident” is primarily a concept of Western origin, used to define itself in contrast to an “Orient”. Non-Western traditions have developed different terms and concepts when encountering the West, largely as a result of modern global interactions and colonialism.
AI responses may include mistakes.
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[3] wikipedia/en/Western_culture
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[9] wikipedia/en/Occidentalism
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[12] wikipedia/en/Occidentalism
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