Related Terms • mind / body problem • emergent properties

Name:
Oswald Spengler

Dates:
Born: May 29, 1880 in Blankenburg, Germany
Died: May 9, 1936 in Munich, Germany

Specialization:
Philosophy of History
Mathematics

Major Works:
The Decline of the West (1918-1922)
Pessimism? (1921)
Neubau des Deutschen Riches (1924)
Pressentum und Sozialismus (1926)
Man and Technics (1933)
The Hour of Decision (1933)

Biography:
Oswald Spengler advocated a cyclic view of history, arguing that great civilizations all had natural and unalterable life cycles which involved rising, maturity, and then eventually and necessarily falling. There is nothing rational which governs which cultures will rise to become dominant world cultures and there is no basis for evaluating one culture as somehow better or superior to others. Instead, there are simply more successful and less successful cultures and the historian's job is to describe what has happened to them over the course of time. At the time he wrote he was a strong believer in the important role Germany had in the development of Western culture, but he rejected the philosophy of the Nazis who attempted to use his work for their own ends.

Also Known As: none

Alternate Spellings: none

Common Misspellings: none

Related Resources:

Biographies of Philosophers
This index of biographical index of famous philosophers throughout history includes many others who have contributed to our understanding of human nature and life - including sociologists, psychologists, scientists, and more.

What is the Philosophy of Mind?
The relatively recent specialty known as Philosophy of Mind deals with questions of consciousness and how it interacts with the body and the outside world. Thus, it asks not only what mental phenomena are and what gives rise to them, but also what relationship they have to the larger physical body and the world around us.

What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?