the habit of setting in opposition primacy of freedom (West, progress, modernity, dynamic and innovative spirit, etc.) and primacy of authority (East, Middle Ages, despotism, past, immobility, etc.) dates back to that time. This habit still survives, and in the most dangerous form because it keeps shaping the standard ethico-political and historical judgments, even if their first premises are seldom recalled and made the object of a rigorous critical examination.
