The Also-Rans

To truly appreciate the Greek achievement, you must understand how other civilizations failed to develop rationalism. If we look at some of the major civilizations that developed independently, we can see a clear pattern of development that almost everybody — except the Greeks — followed. The common elements are striking, making the Greek achievement all the more impressive. Everybody else followed a basic line of development, which did not include anything like rationalism. Without the Greeks, it would never have happened. Why did the others fail?

Mesopotamia

Egypt

Phoenicia

India

Mesoamerica

China

Table of Contents | Bibliography | Sources