Most cultural, sociological, philosophical and other currents that are discussed superficially in contemporary Western European texts can be traced back to Greek society in the fifth century BC, or further. The reason for this is the fact that it is the first European society for which a lot of written source material is available. That triviality is often used as a justification for the existence of a current, while it merely states that not all that much changed in these domains in the last 2500 years. The evolution of thinking is rather slow on average.
There is however no reason to despair. We have all the more motivation to concentrate on what is truely contemporary and new. The surprising fact is rather that so much of the details change continuously, and gain at least temporary importance. These facets are fascinating and we must attempt to concentrate on them.
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