Originally Posted by
Roboramma
The argument is simply that culture is, to a large degree, a response to circumstances: that modern democracy evolved not as a continuation of the ancient greek tradition, but rather as a response to the world as it was at the time that it developed
The fact that the individuals involved referenced old ideas and were even influenced by them doesn't suggest that those ideas were themselves instrumental in that development
Your problem here is two-fold:
1) I said that preservation of the Ancient Greek culture eventually resulted in the development of Western Civilisation. Democracy constitutes only one element of our culture, so this fixation on democracy is unwarranted.
2) To argue that Democracy spontaneously and independently re-emerged is to totally ignore the democratic and cultural ideals and values that persisted, and directly resulted in the reestablishment of democracy.