The Decline of the West
by Oswald Spengler
On This Page
Description
Oswald Spengler, (born May 29, 1880, Blankenburg, Germany—died May 8, 1936, Munich), German philosopher whose reputation rests entirely on his influential study Der Untergang des Abendlandes, 2 vol. (1918–22; The Decline of the West), a major contribution to social theory. After taking his doctorate at the University of Halle (1904), Spengler worked as a schoolmaster until 1911, when he went to live in Munich on a small inheritance and began work on Der Untergang. The first volume, show more published in 1918, won him immediate acclaim from the general public. The second volume followed in 1922, and a revised edition of the first a year later. From 1919 onward, Spengler tried to turn his reputation to account as a political commentator, but he met with little success. Der Untergang is a study in the philosophy of history. Spengler contended that because most civilizations must pass through a life cycle, not only can the historian reconstruct the past but he can predict "the spiritual forms, duration, rhythm, meaning and product of the still unaccomplished stages of our Western history." Unlike Arnold Toynbee, who later held that cultures are usually "apparented" to older cultures, Spengler contended that the spirit of a culture can never be transferred to another culture. He believed that the West had already passed through the creative stage of "culture" into that of reflection and material comfort ("civilization" proper, in his terminology) and that the future could only be a period of irreversible decline. Nor was there any prospect of reversing the process, for civilizations blossomed and decayed like natural organisms, and true rejuvenation was as impossible in the one case as the other. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
An important look at the history of Western civlization written in 1917. An incredibly probing look into the meanins of culture, philosophy, etc. from a mascroscopic, pan-historical view. Very heavy, I can scarcely handle five pages a day. Now, I am over half-way through volume II. The reading here gets near impenetrable, though some sections like Nobles and The Priesthood are thick with deep thoughts worth considering. I finally finished this after months of effort. I have read no finer work of historic and pan-cultural study. Here on the eve of WWI, Spengler predicted the Cold War, American apathy with a corrupt political system and much more
Changed the way i view everything forever!
divides West into classic, Magean and Faustian--sees decline of all as original spirit runs out--obscure
"Niedergang des Abendlandes" might be better translated as "Decline and Fall" of the West.
Shelf 2, Row 2
100 SPE 2
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
The Road to Freedom (Will Durant's 100 Best Books for an Education)
100 works; 8 members
Entender el mundo
46 works; 1 member
Filosofía - Clásicos
217 works; 1 member
501 Must-Read Books
529 works; 72 members
Trinity College Booklist (1951): Class Four, History
120 works; 2 members
Best Books of 1926-1935
403 works; 10 members
1920s
141 works; 6 members
Books Referenced by Izetbegovic's Islam Between East and West
233 works; 2 members
Author Information
64+ Works 2,712 Members
German historian and philosopher Oswald Spengler studied at the universities of Munich, Berlin, and Halle. Although originally trained in the natural sciences and mathematics, he read widely in history, philosophy, and literature. In 1918, Spengler published the first volume of his two-volume master work, The Decline of the West (1918--1922). show more Written during World War I, when Spengler was living in extreme poverty in Munich, the work has as its theme the rise and decline of civilization. Spengler, who believed that present occidental civilization had reached its period of decadence and was about to be conquered by the Mongolian people of Asia, revised his work in the period of despair following the war, and the 1923 edition brought him wealth and fame. Because of his dislike of "non-Aryan" peoples and his belief in the ideal of obedience to the state he was popular with the Nazis when they first sought power. But when he refused to participate in their anti-Semitic activities, he was ostracized. Although allowed to stay in Germany and to keep his property, the last years of his life were spent under the cloud of official disfavor. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Decline of the West
- Original title
- Der Untergang des Abendlandes : Umrisse einer Morphologie der Weltgeschichte
- Original publication date
- 1918 (vol. 1) (vol. 1); 1922 (vol. 2) (vol. 2)
- First words
- In this book is attempted for the first time the venture of predetermining history, of following the still untraveled stages in the destiny of a Culture, and specifically of the only Culture of our time and on our planet whic... (show all)h is actually in the phase of fulfillment — the West European-American.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And a task that historic necessity has set will be accomplished with the individual or against him.
- Original language
- German
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 713
- Popularity
- 39,865
- Reviews
- 17
- Rating
- (3.59)
- Languages
- 14 — Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 48
- ASINs
- 40
