Oswald Spengler | |
|---|---|
 Spengler in 1929 | |
| Born | Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler 29 May 1880 |
| Died | 8 May 1936 (aged 55) |
| Alma mater | University of Munich University of Berlin University of Halle |
| Notable work | The Decline of the West (1918, 1922), Man and Technics (1932), The Hour of Decision (1934) |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Continental philosophy Goethean science[1][2] Conservative Revolution |
| Thesis | Der metaphysische Grundgedanke der heraklitischen Philosophie (1904) |
| Doctoral advisor | Alois Riehl |
Main interests | Aesthetics Philosophy of history Philosophy of science Political philosophy |
| Signature | |
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| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in Germany |
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Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler[a] (29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German polymath whose areas of interest included history, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best known for his two-volume work The Decline of the West (Der Untergang des Abendlandes), published in 1918 and 1922, covering human history. Spengler's model of history postulates that human cultures and civilizations are akin to biological entities, each with a limited, predictable, and deterministic lifespan.
Spengler predicted that about the year 2000, Western civilization would enter the period of pre‑death emergency which would lead to 200 years of Caesarism (extra-constitutional omnipotence of the executive branch of government) before Western civilization's final collapse.[3]
Spengler is regarded as a German nationalist and a critic of republicanism, and he was a prominent member of the Weimar-era Conservative Revolution. The Nazis had viewed his writings as a means to provide a "respectable pedigree" to their ideology,[4] Spengler later criticized Nazism due to its excessive racialist elements. He saw Benito Mussolini, and entrepreneurial types, like the mining magnate Cecil Rhodes,[5] as examples of the impending Caesars of Western culture—later showcasing his disappointment in Mussolini's colonialist adventures.[6]
- ^ Hughes 1991, p. 59.
- ^ Peter E. Gordon, John P. McCormick (eds.), Weimar Thought: A Contested Legacy, Princeton University Press, 2013, p. 136.
- ^ Holton, Gerald James (2000). Einstein, History, and Other Passions: The Rebellion Against Science at the End of the Twentieth Century. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00433-7.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
VQRwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ The Decline of the West, Alfred A. Knopf. Volume 1, page 37, Atkinson's Translation.
- ^ Letters of Oswald Spengler page 305, Alfred A. Knopf, 1966, Translation Arthur Helps. Here Spengler is quite critical of Mussolini's involvement in Abyssinia, saying: "Mussolini has lost the calm statesmanlike superiority of his first years...".
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