Decline of the West: Form and Actuality, by Oswald Spengler

That's French for "the ancient system," as in the ancient system of feudal privileges and the exercise of autocratic power over the peasants. The ancien regime never goes away, like vampires and dinosaur bones they are always hidden in the earth, exercising a mysterious influence. It is not paranoia to believe that the elites scheme against the common man. Inform yourself about their schemes here.

Decline of the West: Form and Actuality, by Oswald Spengler

Postby admin » Thu May 17, 2018 12:48 am

Decline of the West: Form and Actuality
by Oswald Spengler
Authorized translation with notes by Charles Francis Atkinson
© 1926 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


This translation is dedicated to Ellinor James, a Friend

Wenn im Unendlichen dasselbe
Sich wiederholend ewig fliesst,
Das tausendfaltige Gewolbe
Sich kraftig ineinander schliesst;
Stromt Lebenslust aus allen Dingen,
Dem kleinsten wie dem grossten Stern,
Und alles Drangen, alles Ringen
Ist ewige Ruh in Gott dem Herrn.
-GOETHE.

[Google translate: If at infinity the same
Repeating eternally,
The thousand-fold vault
Closely intermeshed;
Stromt lust for life from all things,
The smallest as well as the biggest star,
And everything, everything wrestling
Is eternal rest in God the Lord.]


TABLE OF CONTENTS: [PDF HERE]

• TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
• AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION
• AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
• CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
Scope of the work; p. 3. Morphology of World-History, a new philosophy, p. 5. For whom is History? p. 8. Classical and Indian mankind ahistorical, p. 9. The Egyptian mummy and the burning of the dead, p. 13. The conventional scheme of World-History (ancient, mediaeval, modern), p. 15. Its origin, p. 18. Its breakdown, p. 22. Europe not a centre of gravity, p. 23. The only historical method is Goethe's, p. 25. Ourselves and the Romans, p. 26. Nietzsche and Mommsen, p. 28. The problem of Civilization, p. 31. Imperialism the last phase, p. 36. The necessity and range of our basic idea, p. 39. Its relation to present-day philosophy, p. 41. Philosophy's last task, p. 45. The origin of this work, p. 46.
• CHAPTER II. THE MEANING OF NUMBERS
Fundamental notions, p. 53. Numbers as the sign of delimitation, p. 56. Every Culture has its own Mathematic, p. 59. Number as magnitude in the Classical world, p. 64. Aristarchus, p. 68. Diophantus and Arabian number, p. 71. Number as Function in the Western Culture, p. 74. World-fear and world-longing, p. 78. Geometry and arithemetic, p. 81. The Limit idea, p. 86. Visual limits transcended; symbolical space worlds, p. 86. Final possibilities, p. 87.
• CHAPTER III. THE PROBLEM OF WORLD-HISTORY. (1) PHYSIOGNOMIC AND SYSTEMATIC
Copernican methods, p. 93. History and Nature, p. 94. Form and Law, p. 97. Physiognomic and Systematic, p. 100. Cultures as organisms, p. 104. Inner form, tempo, duration, p. 108. Homology, p. 111. What is meant by "contemporary," p. 112.
• CHAPTER IV. THE PROBLEM OF WORLD-HISTORY. (2) THE DESTINY-IDEA AND THE CAUSALITY-PRINCIPLE
Logic, organic and inorganic, p. 117. Time and Destiny, p. 119. Space and Causality, p. 119. The problem of Time, p. 121. Time a counter-conception to Space, p. 126. The symbols of Time - tragedy, time reckoning, disposal of the dead, p. 130. Care (sex, the State, works), p. 136. Destiny and Incident, p. 139. Incident and Cause, p. 141. Incident and Style of existence, p. 142. Anonymous and personal epochs, p. 148. Direction into the future and Image of the Past, p. 152. Is there a Science of History? p. 155. The new enunciation of the problem, p. 159
• CHAPTER V. MAKROKOSMOS. (1) THE SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-PICTURE AND THE PROBLEM OF SPACE
The Macrocosm as the sum total of symbols referred to a Soul, p. 163. Space and Death, p. 165. "Alles vergangliche ist nur ein Gleichnis," p. 167. The space problem (only Depth is space-forming), p. 169. Depth as Time, p. 172. The world-idea of a Culture born out of its prime symbol, p. 174. Classical Body, Magian Cavern, Western Infinity, p. 174.
• CHAPTER VI. MAKROCOSMOS. (2) APOLLINIAN, FAUSTIAN, AND MAGIAN SOUL
Prime symbol, architecture, divinities, p. 183. The Egyptian prime symbol of the path, p. 188. Expression-language of art: Ornamentation and Imitation, p. 191. Ornament and early architecture, p. 196. The window, p. 199. The grand style, p. 200. The history of a Style as organism, p. 205. On the history of the Arabian style, p. 207. Psychology of art-technique, p. 214
• CHAPTER VII. MUSIC AND PLASTIC. (I) THE ARTS OF FORM
Music one of the arts of form, p. 219. Classification of the arts impossible except from the historical standpoint, p. 221. The choice of particular arts itself an expression-means of the higher order, p. 222. Apollinian and Faustian art-groups, p. 224. The stages of Western Music, p. 226. The Renaissance an anti-Gothic and anti-musical movement, p. 232. Character of the Baroque, p. 236. The Park, p. 240. Symbolism of colours, p. 245. Colours of the Near and of the Distance, p. 246. Gold background and Rembrandt brown, p. 247. Patina, p. 253.
• CHAPTER VIII. MUSIC AMD PLASTIC. (.) ACT AND PORTRAIT
Kinds of human representation, p. 259. Portraiture, Contrition, Syntax, p. 261. The heads of Classical statuary, p. 264. Portrayal of children and women, p. 266. Hellenistic portraiture, p. 269. The Baroque portrait, p. 272. Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo overcome the Renaissance, p. 273. Victory of Instrumental Music over Oil-Painting, corresponding to the victory of Statuary over Fresco in the Classical, p. 282. Impressionism, p. 285. Pergamum and Bayreuth, p. 291. The finale of Art, p. 293.
• CHAPTER IX. SOUL-IMAGE AND LIFE-FEELING. (1) ON THE FORM OF THE SOUL
Soul-image as function of World-image, p. 299. Psychology of a counter-physics, p. 302. Apollinian, Magian and Faustian soul-image, p. 305. The" Will" in Gothic space, p. 308. The "inner" mythology, p. 312. Will and Character, p. 314. Classical posture tragedy and Faustian character tragedy, p. 317. Symbolism of the drama-image, p. 320. Day and Night Art, p. 324. Popular and esoteric, p. 326. The astronomical image, 329. The geographical horizon, p. 332.
• CHAPTER X. SOUL-IMAGE AND LIFE-FEELING. (2) BUDDHISM, STOICISM, AND SOCIALISM
The Faustian morale purely dynamic, p. 341. Every Culture has a form of morale proper to itself, p. 345. Posture-morale and will-morale, p. 347. Buddha, Socrates, Rousseau as protagonists of the dawning Civilizations, p. 351. Tragic and plebeian morale, p. 354. Return to Nature, Irreligion, Nihilism, p. 356. Ethical Socialism, p. 361. Similarity of structure in the philosophical history of every Culture, p. 364. The Civilized philosophy of the West, p. 365.
• CHAPTER XI. FAUSTIAN AND APOLLINIAN NATURE-KNOWLEDGE
Theory as Myth, p. 377. Every Natural Science depends upon a preceding Religion, p. 391. Statics, Alchemy, Dynamics as the theories of three Cultures, p. 382. The Atomic theory, p. 384. The problem of motion insoluble, p. 388. The style of causal process and experience; p. 391. The feeling of God and the knowing of Nature, p. 392. The great Myth, p. 394. Classical, Magian and Faustian numina, p. 397. Atheism, p. 408. Faustian physics as a dogma of force, p. 411. Limits of its theoretical (as distinct from its technical) development, p. 417. Self-destruction of Dynamics, and invasion of historical ideas; theory dissolves into a system of morphological relationships, p. 420.
• INDEX
• TABLES ILLUSTRATING THE COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGY OF HISTORY
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Return to Ancien Regime

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests