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| - The Decline of the West is a philosophical book by German 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, Napoleon Bonaparte, in them . Yes, Spengler was a bit of a Renaissance Man in that.
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abstract
| - The Decline of the West is a philosophical book by German 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, Napoleon Bonaparte, in them . Yes, Spengler was a bit of a Renaissance Man in that. The book influenced people from Henry Kissinger to 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. Spengler's works are in the public domain (at least in Germany), and you can read them on the internet for free. Here are links to Part 1 and Part 2 (both in English).
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