What is "the west" ? Western culture, philosophies.. etc..

I think it has meant different things over time, starting with the west of the Roman Empire, and Europe. Now including Canada, the US and Australia. I think it referes to the european and particularly the anglo-nations that have held most of the worlds wealth and power for the last 2000 years.

"the west" is actually a series of ideas that started in France. The idea that individuals have rights which are not the same as the the common good is derived from French philosophers during the eighteenth century. The Common Good was equated with what was best for the monarchies of the time. The rights of individuals, while originally discussed in France, were written by the English, several centuries before they appeared in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.

I guess " The West" means us in The Americas and our cousins in Europe. Since most philosophies were born in the east,any other philosophies were considered Western.It may have been first used when the Roman Empire was split in two. One Caesar for the east ans another for the west. The East was modern day Turkey and the West was Rome.