Culture of England

The culture of England is diverse, and defined by the cultural norms of England and the English people. Owing to England's influential position within the United Kingdom it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate English culture from the culture of the United Kingdom as a whole.^[1] However, tracing its origins back to the early Anglo-Saxon era, England cultivated an increasingly distinct cultural heritage. This cultural development persisted throughout the subsequent Anglo-Norman era, and the reign of the Plantagenet Dynasty.

Humour, tradition, and good manners are characteristics commonly associated with being English.^[2] England has made significant contributions in the world of literature, cinema, music, art and philosophy. The secretary of state for culture, media and sport is the government minister responsible for the cultural life of England.^[3]

Many scientific and technological advancements originated in England, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. The country has played an important role in engineering, democracy, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles, mathematics, science and sport.

^[226]

Cheddar cheese

Cheshire cheese

^[227]

Stilton cheese

Wensleydale cheese

Lancashire cheese

^[228]

Double Gloucester cheese

Red Leicester cheese

Shropshire Blue cheese

Dorset Blue Vinney cheese

Swaledale cheese

Sage Derby cheese

(1478–1535) addressed the social problems of humanity in his summit work, Utopia (1516). The rest of his works have as a common thread the exaltation of idealism and the condemnation of tyranny.

Thomas More

(1561–1626) developed philosophical and scientific empiricism, which made him one of the pioneers of modern scientific thinking in developing the experimental scientific method. His most prominent philosophical works are The Advancement of Knowledge (1605), Novum Organum or Indications related to the Interpretation of Nature (1620).

Francis Bacon

(1588–1679) was a very influential figure in the development of Western political philosophy through his work Leviathan (1651), a treatise on the nature of human beings and how societies are organized.

Thomas Hobbes

(1632–1704) is considered the father of enlightened thought, one of the most influential thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment, and one of the founders of social contract theory, epistemology and political philosophy.

John Locke

(1737–1809) had great influence through his writings on social democracy, claiming land ownership, freethinking, religion and slavery, in the American revolutionaries who led the independence of that country.

Thomas Paine

(1748–1832) developed the utilitarian doctrine, embodied in his main work: Introduction to the principles of morality and legislation (1789). In addition, it left strengthened and appropriate the concept of Deontology widely used in laws and codes of professional work that looks to the future.

Jeremy Bentham

(1806–1873) was a representative of the classical and theoretical economic school of utilitarianism. In his work on freedom, he exposes his fundamental ideas about the limits of freedom of the individual and society.

John Stuart Mill

(1872–1970) was a philosopher, mathematician, logician and writer, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and known for his influence on analytical philosophy in the early twentieth century.

Bertrand Russell

England has been the cradle of many very important philosophers who have contributed to the development of philosophical currents such as liberalism, utilitarianism, free thinking, enlightened thinking, empiricism, political philosophy and analytical philosophy. The ideas of these thinkers have influenced transcendental historical events such as the Age of Enlightenment, the 1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States, the French Revolution, and the 1948 United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

List of museums in England

Anglophile

English understatement

Goth subculture

Briggs, Asa (1994). A Social History of England: from the ice age to the channel tunnel; new ed. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 029783262X (1st ed. 1983).

ISBN

Redlich, Monica (1957) Everyday England. London: Gerald Duckworth.