In Spengler (20) as in Comte, we find an undisguised practical interest in historical prediction, in the first place because such prediction seems possible to him. As he himself wrote:

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 which is actually in the phase of fulfillment—the west-European-American. We are trying, I repeat, trying to track that culture into those stages of its development that have not yet taken place. (21)

Regarding his practical interests, he would have the new generations dedicate themselves to activities such as engineering, architecture, and medicine, abandoning all philosophy or abstract thought, which has already entered its “stage of decline.” We see that his interests go still further when he indicates a type of politics (in both the specific and general sense) that must correspond to the present and immediate future of the culture in which he is writing. (22)

For Comte, history could still be comprehended on a human scale. His law of the three stages applied as much to humanity as to individuals in their development. For Spengler, history has already become dehumanized as a universal biographical protoform, which has to do only with biological man (as well as animals and plants) insofar as birth, youth, maturity, and death happen to them.

The Spenglerian vision of “civilization” as the final stage of a culture did not stop Toynbee23 from taking civilization as the unit of research. 

In: Historiological Discussions

Silo, Chapter 2: The Past Seen as Without Temporal Foundation 2.2 History as Form

Oswald Spengler (1880 - 1936)

Topics

• Cultural cycles and the decline of the West:

Spengler's major work, ‘The Decline of the West’, postulates that cultures, like organisms, are subject to a life cycle that includes childhood, youth, maturity and old age. He argued that the West was in the stage of old age and heading towards an inevitable decline.

• Morphology of world history:

Spengler developed the idea of a ‘morphology of world history’ in which he regarded historical cultures as independent organisms that follow certain laws. This view represented a break with the linear understanding of history and emphasised the cyclical nature of history.

• Culture versus civilisation:

Spengler drew a sharp distinction between culture and civilisation. For him, culture represented the creative and upward phase of a society, while civilisation represented the later, decadent phase that ushered in the decline of a culture.

• Political and social criticism:

Spengler was critical of the Weimar Republic and hoped for the establishment of a strong dictatorship that could overcome the challenges of the time. His political writings, such as ‘Prussianism and Socialism’ and ‘The Reconstruction of the German Empire’, reflect his anti-parliamentary and monarchist views. He was associated with the nationalist and anti-democratic ‘Conservative Revolution’, but rejected National Socialism and its racial ideology.

• Technology and Destiny:

In his work ‘Man and Technology’, Spengler discussed the role of technology in the modern world and saw it as an expression of destiny and power that influences the course of history. He regarded technological development as ambivalent, since it can bring both progress and destruction.

Major works

The Decline of the West

This work, the first volume of which was published in 1918 and the second volume in 1922, is Spengler's most famous and influential work. It presents a cyclical theory of history in which cultures are regarded as organic beings that have a lifespan of about 1000 years. Spengler argues that cultures go through phases of birth, flowering, decay and death. He saw Western culture of his time in the stage of decline and prophesied its downfall.

The eight advanced civilisations according to Spengler:

1. Egyptian culture: since about 2600 BC on the Nile, including the Cretan-Minoan culture.

2. Babylonian culture: since about 2600 BC in what is now the Middle East. (According to Spengler, this culture reached its peak with the Old Babylonian Empire, but began to decline with the transition from the supremacy of the Sumerians – whom Spengler predominantly regarded as a precursor culture – to the Akkadian Empire.

3. Indian culture: since 1500 BC in the Indus Valley and in the interior of the Indian subcontinent.

4. Chinese culture: since 1400 BC on the East Asian continent.

5. Antiquity, i.e. Greco-Roman culture: since 1100 BC in the Mediterranean region (heartland is present-day Greece and Italy).

6. Arab culture (+ Byzantium): since the birth of Christ on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean.

7. Aztec culture: since approx. AD in the main area of Central America.

8. Western culture: since 900 AD in Western Europe, later also in North America.

Man and Technology: Published in 1931, this work focuses on the impact of technology on human culture. Spengler views technology as a driving force that influences both the progress and the decline of cultures. He discusses the role of technology in history and its significance for the future of humanity .

These two works have contributed significantly to Spengler's reputation as an important cultural philosopher and have been the subject of intense discussion and criticism.

Influence

• Spengler's main work ‘The Decline of the West’ remained influential and controversial even after his death. It became one of the most successful and most discussed works since 1918, with the title becoming a ‘winged word’.

• In historical scholarship, Spengler's work is no longer considered fundamental. His methodology has often been dismissed by scholars as amateurish.

Nevertheless, Spengler exerted considerable influence on some important historians, particularly Arnold J. Toynbee.

• In recent decades, Spengler's work has experienced something of a renaissance. Some scholars have honoured him as the ‘master thinker of the conservative revolution’ or as the ‘thinker of the turning point of the ages’. Critical voices, such as those of the philosopher Theodor W. Adorno, have dealt intensively with Spengler's ideas and criticised his cultural pessimism and anti-democratic attitude.

• In his work ‘The Poverty of Historicism’, the philosopher of science Karl Popper attacked Spengler's assumption of immutable historical laws.

• The Marxist philosopher Georg Lukács criticised Spengler's rejection of causality and legality in history and described him as a ‘superficial and frivolous dilettante’.

Overall, Spengler's influence remains ambivalent: while his methodology and many of his theses are rejected in the relevant academic fields, his culturally pessimistic and civilisationally critical ideas continue to resonate in intellectual and political debates.