Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

Nyd den ubegrænsede adgang til tusindvis af spændende e- og lydbøger - helt gratis

  • Lyt og læs så meget du har lyst til
  • Opdag et kæmpe bibliotek fyldt med fortællinger
  • Eksklusive titler + Mofibo Originals
  • Opsig når som helst
Prøv nu
DK - Details page - Device banner - 894x1036
Cover for The Decline of the West: Volume 1: Form and Actuality and Volume 2: Perspectives of World History

The Decline of the West: Volume 1: Form and Actuality and Volume 2: Perspectives of World History

Varighed
55T 52M
Sprog
Engelsk
Format
Kategori

Religion og spiritualitet

The Decline of the West - Volume 1 published in 1917, Volume 2 in 1922 - has exercised and challenged opinion ever since. It was a huge undertaking by Oswald Spengler (1880-1936), formerly an unpublished historian and philosopher who set out to radically reconsider history - the rise and fall of world civilisations and their cultures.

His primary view was to reject the established Eurocentric paradigm (ancient/classical, Medieval - and, following the Renaissance - modern) and to take a totally new perspective. First and foremost, his intention was to offer a world overview; and on that basis to present and discuss the premise that the story of the history of man followed a fundamental pattern wherever on the globe it arose. Of particular interest to him were the characteristics of the separate and distinct cultures (established through developments in science, mathematics and the arts). The major cultures he identifies are Babylonian, Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, Mesoamerican (Mayan-Aztec), classical (Greek/Roman), Arabian and Western (European and American). Spengler offered another division - three distinct phases: Magian (societies dominated by monotheism - Persian as well as Semitic religions), Apollonian (ancient Greece and Rome) and Faustian (the ‘modern Western societies’ of his time). All these civilisations can be seen to emerge and decline in seasonal form depicted in terms of spring, summer, autumn, winter. Within the context of this map comes the detail.

Spengler drew on his broad reading to tell the story, to make the links, to ink in the patterns. His breadth of sources and insights of observations and (strongly defined) opinions is fascinating and often persuasive but sometimes contentious. Inevitably, for such an ambitious work, it has garnered controversy since it first appeared. Certainly for a generation it was required reading.

First appearing in Germany (it was finally released in one volume in 1923 and translated into other languages) its reception was coloured by the timing. Both admired and criticised, it had its base in a Germany undergoing severe economic and psychological difficulties, only to be swept aside by the rise of Nazism. Spengler rejected the racism of Nazism, but his strong attitudes (acknowledging, unapologetically, the effect of ‘imperial' individuals on history, whether through military, political or commercial activities) were often characterised as unfailingly right-wing. Not surprisingly, The Decline of the West has been in and out of fashion in the academic world, but also in its more popular appeal. However, in the dramatically changing world of the 21st century, there are resonances which are impossible to ignore.

‘The man of action is always conscienceless,’ said Goethe, one of Spengler’s two main mentors (the other is Nietzsche). But Spengler is unequivocal in his conclusion - as one commentator wrote, ‘Spengler’s prophecy that Western Europe would lose its world hegemony has been fulfilled. Must Western culture also go under?’ Spengler has been accused of pessimism, and The Decline of the West is certainly an uncompromising book to read. But in the preface he is essentially circumspect about his purpose: ‘Is there a logic of history? Is there, beyond all the casual and incalculable elements of the separate event, something that we may call a metaphysical structure of historic humanity, something that is essentially independent of outward forms - social, spiritual and political - which we see so clearly?’

Peter Wickham brings his extensive background in the recording of major classical texts to make this immense work an absorbing listening experience. Translation: Charles Francis Atkinson.

© 2021 Ukemi Audiobooks from W. F. Howes Ltd (Lydbog): 9781004134441

Udgivelsesdato

Lydbog: 3. februar 2021

Andre kan også lide...

  1. Creative Evolution
    Creative Evolution Henri Bergson
  2. City of God
    City of God St. Augustine
  3. Summa Theologica: Volume 1, Part 1 (Prima Pars)
    Summa Theologica: Volume 1, Part 1 (Prima Pars) Thomas Aquinas
  4. The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844
    The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 Friedrich Engels
  5. The Beats: A Very Short Introduction
    The Beats: A Very Short Introduction David Sterritt
  6. Whitehead’s The Function of Reason
    Whitehead’s The Function of Reason Alfred North Whitehead
  7. History of the Russian Revolution
    History of the Russian Revolution Leon Trotsky
  8. The Life of Pericles
    The Life of Pericles Plutarch
  9. The Enneads: Volume 1 (1-3)
    The Enneads: Volume 1 (1-3) Plotinus
  10. The City of God
    The City of God Saint Aurelius Augustinus
  11. Selections from Parerga and Paralipomena: Volume 2
    Selections from Parerga and Paralipomena: Volume 2 Arthur Schopenhauer
  12. The New Testament in Its World: Part 1: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians
    The New Testament in Its World: Part 1: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians N. T. Wright
  13. The French Revolution
    The French Revolution Thomas Carlyle
  14. The Life of Cicero
    The Life of Cicero Plutarch
  15. A Theologico-Political Treatise/A Political Treatise
    A Theologico-Political Treatise/A Political Treatise Baruch Spinoza
  16. Christology 101: The Catholic's Guide to Christ's Person, Nature, and Mission
    Christology 101: The Catholic's Guide to Christ's Person, Nature, and Mission Robin Ryan
  17. A History of Western Philosophy and Theology
    A History of Western Philosophy and Theology John M. Frame
  18. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
    An Essay Concerning Human Understanding John Locke
  19. The Life of Alcibiades
    The Life of Alcibiades Plutarch
  20. Reflections on the Revolution in France
    Reflections on the Revolution in France Edmund Burke
  21. Inventing A Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson
    Inventing A Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson Gore Vidal
  22. Critique of Pure Reason
    Critique of Pure Reason Immanuel Kant
  23. Religion: In the Past, the Present Day and the Future
    Religion: In the Past, the Present Day and the Future Diarmaid MacCulloch
  24. The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam
    The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam Karen Armstrong
  25. Elements of the Philosophy of Right
    Elements of the Philosophy of Right Georg Wilhelm Hegel
  26. Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics
    Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics Martin Heidegger
  27. A Short History of European Law: The Last Two and a Half Millennia
    A Short History of European Law: The Last Two and a Half Millennia Tamar Herzog
  28. Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness
    Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness Henri Bergson
  29. Philosophy of Mind
    Philosophy of Mind Georg Wilhelm Hegel
  30. Fatal Discord: Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind
    Fatal Discord: Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind Michael Massing
  31. Imperialism
    Imperialism Vladimir Lenin
  32. Reconstruction: A Very Short Introduction
    Reconstruction: A Very Short Introduction Allen C. Guelzo
  33. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful
    A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful Edmund Burke
  34. Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics
    Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics Aristotle
  35. The Crusades: A Very Short Introduction
    The Crusades: A Very Short Introduction Christopher Tyerman
  36. The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction
    The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction Gil Troy
  37. The Accumulation of Capital
    The Accumulation of Capital Rosa Luxemburg
  38. Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
    Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion David Hume
  39. Aquinas's Shorter Summa: Saint Thomas's Own Concise Version of His Summa Theologica
    Aquinas's Shorter Summa: Saint Thomas's Own Concise Version of His Summa Theologica St. Thomas Aquinas
  40. The World as Will and Idea: Volume 3
    The World as Will and Idea: Volume 3 Arthur Schopenhauer
  41. March 1917: The Red Wheel: Node III, Book 1
    March 1917: The Red Wheel: Node III, Book 1 Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
  42. The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists
    The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists Robin Waterfield
  43. The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values
    The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values Friedrich Nietzsche
  44. The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers
    The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers Will Durant
  45. Dante and His Divine Comedy
    Dante and His Divine Comedy Timothy B. Shutt
  46. Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Moral
    Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Moral Immanuel Kant

Vælg dit abonnement

  • Over 600.000 titler

  • Download og nyd titler offline

  • Eksklusive titler + Mofibo Originals

  • Børnevenligt miljø (Kids Mode)

  • Det er nemt at opsige når som helst

Den mest populære

Premium

For dig som lytter og læser ofte.

129 kr. /måned
  • 1 konto

  • 100 timer/måned

  • Eksklusivt indhold hver uge

  • Fri lytning til podcasts

  • Ingen binding

Start tilbuddet

Unlimited

For dig som lytter og læser ubegrænset.

149 kr. /måned
  • 1 konto

  • Ubegrænset adgang

  • Eksklusivt indhold hver uge

  • Fri lytning til podcasts

  • Ingen binding

Start tilbuddet

Family

For dig som ønsker at dele historier med familien.

Fra 179 kr. /måned
  • 2-6 konti

  • 100 timer/måned pr. konto

  • Fri lytning til podcasts

  • Kun 39 kr. pr. ekstra konto

  • Ingen binding

2 konti

179 kr. /måned
Start tilbuddet

Flex

For dig som vil prøve Mofibo.

89 kr. /måned
  • 1 konto

  • 20 timer/måned

  • Gem op til 100 ubrugte timer

  • Eksklusivt indhold hver uge

  • Fri lytning til podcasts

  • Ingen binding

Prøv gratis