History Literature / TheDeclineOfTheWest

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: As said, Spengler was relativist and wrote about the wordly and the spiritual side having a point - of course, not without mentioning that ''both'' think they're right.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: "Magians" for the Jews (and Muslims, and Greek-Orthodox Christians... generally, everyone from the Middle East following a religion which originated there around 0-1000 AD).

* WrongGenreSavvy:
** Spengler mentions Swedish king [[UsefulNotes/CarolusRex Charles XII]], who was a big fan of Alexander the Great, tried to follow his example, thus made war on the Russia of Peter the Great, only to have his army destroyed at the battle of Poltava, which effectively ended Sweden's time as a great power.
** Arguably also Spengler himself in various ways. Most clearly the fact that he bet on [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany the wrong horse]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Spengler used many... original definitions, often giving existing words a very different meaning:
** To Spengler, UsefulNotes/{{socialism}} is very different from Communism/Marxism, but on the other hand somewhat related to the politics of Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I, or Ancient Egypt. In this, Spengler was influenced by the terminology of the 19th century, as prior to the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Russian Revolution]], "socialism" had carried a much wider spectrum of connotations.
** He used "civilization" for a time of decline and decadence following the ''real'' culture, during which art becomes more and more offensive and/or primitive, and politics steered either by the capitalists or the army (in his definition, this time started with UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution).
** Also, his names for cultures (Faustian = Western Europe; Apollinian = Classic civilizations; Magian = Middle Eastern).
** Finally (for now), his definition of "race", which had nothing at all to do with skin colors or the shape of human skulls.

* CorruptChurch: Spengler separates religion (which is about a higher truth that is not from this world) and churches (which are by necessity worldly organizations, and whose leaders are NotSoDifferent from purely worldly rulers)

''The Decline of the West'' is a philosophical book by [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German philosopher]] Oswald Spengler. While the title suggests being mainly about the fate of Western civilization, it actually covers a lot of topics - the history of the other great cultures (Chinese, Indian, Aztec, Greco-Roman, Babylonian, Middle Eastern, Egyptian, Russian); the development of arts, science and religions; also, that of politics, economy, technics and war; and finally, tying everything together with "morphology", i.e. comparing the shapes of different cultures and find the equivalents of, let's say, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, in them [[note]]In the Greco-Roman culture, that would be Alexander the Great[[/note]]. Yes, Spengler was a bit of a RenaissanceMan in that.

* NeverTrustATitle: Spengler wasn't completely happy with the title (which seemed to imply that the western world had to fall, like the Roman empire) and commented that he could've changed the title to "The fulfillment of the West", which would be closer to his intention - i.e. the west transforming to a stable but stagnant empire in the end. The fact that many fans only knew the title and didn't care to actually read the book didn't help.

* FullCircleRevolution: He commented on the Russian revolution that there were only two possibilities: either the factory workers would learn how to run a society (in which case nothing would really change) or not (in which case, everything would break down). As we know, reality was a mixture of 1 and 2.

The book influenced people from Henry Kissinger to [[TheHerosJourney Joseph Campbell]], and even a thinker critical of Spengler as Theodore Adorno of the Frankfurt School conceded that Spengler's insights were often more profound than those of his more liberal contemporaries, and his predictions more far-reaching.

The book influenced people from Henry Kissinger to [[TheHerosJourney Joseph Campbell]], and even a thinker critical of Spengler as Adorno conceded that Spengler's insights were often more profound than those of his more liberal contemporaries, and his predictions more far-reaching.

''The Decline of the West'' is a philosophical book by [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German philosopher]] Oswald Spengler. While the title suggests being mainly about the fate of western civilization, it actually covers a lot of topics - the history of the other great cultures (Chinese, Indian, Aztecs, Classical, Babylonian, Middle Eastern, Egyptian, Russian); the development of arts, science and religions; also, that of politics, economy, technics and war; and finally, tying everything together with "morphology", i.e. comparing the shapes of different cultures and find the equivalents of, let's say, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, in them [[note]]In the Greco-Roman culture, that would be Alexander the Great[[/note]]. Yes, Spengler was a bit of a RenaissanceMan in that.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Spengler mentions Swedish king [[UsefulNotes/CarolusRex Charles XII]], who was a big fan of Alexander the Great, tried to follow his example, thus made war on the Russia of Peter the Great, only to have his army destroyed at the battle of Poltava, which effectively ended Sweden's time as a great power.
** Arguably also Spengler himself in various ways. Most clearly the fact that he bet on [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany The wrong horse]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* StrawmanNewsMedia:
** Spengler accused [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Harmsworth,_1st_Viscount_Northcliffe Northcliffe]] having used his press conglomerate to manipulate the readers (and thus, their countries) until they wanted UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
** Also, he wrote that journalists... well, suck. How much? Don't read if you're a journalist and easily offended: [[spoiler:Spengler wrote that journalists are intellectual whores, who will sell their intellectual abilities to whoever needs them, and support whatever cause he wants.]]

* TakeThat: Spengler spares almost nobody. Particularly notable: How he dismissed racist theories on the "purity of blood".

* FullCircleRevolution: He commented on the Russian revolution that there were only two possibilities: Either the factory workers would learn how to run a society (in which case nothing would really change) or not (in which case, everything would break down). As we know, reality was a mixture of 1 and 2.

* HardOnSoftScience: Especially on philosophy, starting with Kant. And that's saying something.
** He is arguably even harder on hard science though, seeing even physics as a pure expression of deep cultural ideas in which objective truth is purely accidental.
* HistoryRepeats: i.e. in every major culture: A culture emerges among the barbarian peoples and fuses them together to create nations. The great myths, art styles and religions develop. At the beginning, strong kings rule, but their power soon is weakened by their noble vassals. A great movement reforms the religion. Meanwhile, in the cities a somewhat-privileged middle class has risen, replacing feudalism economy slowly but steadily by capitalism. By cooperating with them, the crown can weaken nobility and the church, forming an absolutist state. Science and capitalism develop further, and an enlightened philosophy spreads, weakening the hold of religion. Then, the middle class will decide to get rid of the old system, usually in the form of a revolution - which starts civilization. This marks the fall of the culture - wars will get worse and worse (UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars -> UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar -> UsefulNotes/WorldWarI -> UsefulNotes/WorldWarII), art will become more and more offensive, and capitalism runs rampant (not without provoking [[DirtyCommies counter movements]]). At the end, one state will conquer/control all other states, and one man will rise to the top of this state - voila, TheEmpire.
* IHaveManyNames: He pointed out how people (as in, Germans, Romans, Americans...) can have different names, which makes work difficult for historians. Point: The Germans were called "Allemands" by the French in 1813, "Prussiens" in 1870 and "boches" in 1914. But does that make them three different people?

* AristocratsAreEvil: While Spengler also was pretty critical of democracy (see below), he had no illusions that medieval life was all like {{Arcadia}}. As he wrote: "Hatred wells up out of the villages, contempt flashes back from the castles."

* CorruptChurch: Spengler separates religion (which is about a higher truth that is not from this world) and churches (which are by necessity worldly organizations, and which leaders are NotSoDifferent from purely worldly rulers)

** To Spengler, UsefulNotes/{{socialism}} is very different from Communism/Marxism, but on the other hand somewhat related to the politics of Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I, or Ancient Egypt. In this, Spengler was influenced by the terminology of the 19th century, as prior to the [[RedOctober Russian Revolution]], "socialism" had carried a much wider spectrum of connotations.

* HistoryRepeats: i.e. in every major culture: A culture emerges among the barbarian peoples and fuses them together to create nations. The great myths, art styles and religions develop. At the beginning, [[TheKingdom strong kings rule]], but their power soon is weakened by their noble vassals. A great movement reforms the religion. Meanwhile, in the cities a somewhat-privileged middle class has risen, replacing feudalism economy slowly but steadily by capitalism. By cooperating with them, the crown can weaken nobility and the church, forming an absolutist state. Science and capitalism develop further, and an enlightened philosophy spreads, weakening the hold of religion. Then, the middle class will decide to get rid of the old system, usually in the form of a revolution - which starts civilization. This marks the fall of the culture - wars will get worse and worse (UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars -> UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar -> UsefulNotes/WorldWarI -> UsefulNotes/WorldWarII), art will become more and more offensive, and capitalism runs rampant (not without provoking [[DirtyCommies counter movements]]). At the end, one state will conquer/control all other states, and one man will rise to the top of this state - voila, TheEmpire.

** He is arguably even harder on hard science though, seeing even physics as a pure expression of cultural in which objective truth is purely accidental.

** Arguably also Spengler himself in various ways. Most clearly the fact that he bet on [[ImperialGermany The wrong horse]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* HistoryRepeats: i.e. in every major culture: A culture emerges among the barbarian peoples and fuses them together to create nations. The great myths, art styles and religions develop. At the beginning, [[TheKingdom strong kings rule]], but their power soon is weakened by their noble vassals. A great movement reforms the religion. Meanwhile, in the cities a somewhat-privileged middle class has risen, replacing feudalism economy slowly but steadily by capitalism. By cooperating with them, the crown can weaken nobility and the church, forming an absolutist state. Science and capitalism develop further, and an enlightened philosophy spreads, weakening the hold of religion. Then, the middle class will decide to get rid of the old system, usually in the form of a revolution - which starts civilization. This marks the fall of the culture - wars will get worse and worse (UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars -> UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar -> WorldWarOne -> WorldWarII), art will become more and more offensive, and capitalism runs rampant (not without provoking [[DirtyCommies counter movements]]). At the end, one state will conquer/control all other states, and one man will rise to the top of this state - voila, TheEmpire.

* StarvingArtist: Spengler himself for some time during WorldWarOne

** Spengler accused [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Harmsworth,_1st_Viscount_Northcliffe Northcliffe]] having used his press conglomerate to manipulate the readers (and thus, their countries) until they wanted WorldWarOne.

** Arguably also Spengler himself in various ways. Most clearly the fact that he bet on [[ImperialGermany The wrong horse]] in WorldWarOne.

* {{Jesus}}: Spengler found that his philosophy still stands out among other religions, and pointed out how Jesus upon the cross inspired many martyrs to die for their cause.

* ReligionIsRight / ReligionIsWrong: Spengler had a relativist stance and brought the example of Pilate asking "What is Truth?" in contrast with {{Jesus}} asking "What is Reality?". As he said, both were right from their POV.

'''The Decline of the West''' is a philosophical book by [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German philosopher]] Oswald Spengler. While the title suggests being mainly about the fate of western civilization, it actually covers a lot of topics - the history of the other great cultures (Chinese, Indian, Aztecs, Classical, Babylonian, Middle Eastern, Egyptian, Russian); the development of arts, science and religions; also, that of politics, economy, technics and war; and finally, tying everything together with "morphology", i.e. comparing the shapes of different cultures and find the equivalents of, let's say, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, in them [[note]]In the Greco-Roman culture, that would be Alexander the Great[[/note]]. Yes, Spengler was a bit of a RenaissanceMan in that.

* Creator/FriedrichNietzsche: Spengler was a big fan of Nietzsche. However, he criticized that Nietzsche was only speaking clearly when he protested the decadence of his time - while being very vague about what to replace it with (the {{Ubermensch}} thing).

* Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe: Spengler's other idol, so to speak. Goethe's works about science are often mentioned in this work.