{"product_id":"the-decline-of-the-west-volume-1","title":"The Decline of the West (Volume 1): Form and Actuality by Oswald Spengler","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Decline of the West Volume I: Form and Actuality\u003cbr\u003eBy Oswald Spengler\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eContents\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI-Introduction\u003cbr\u003eII-The Meaning of Numbers\u003cbr\u003eIII-The Problem of World-history--Physiognomic and Systematic\u003cbr\u003eIV-The Problem of World-history--The Destiny-idea and the Causality-principle\u003cbr\u003eV-Makrokosmos--The Symbolism of the World-picture and the Problem of Space\u003cbr\u003eVI-Makrokosmos--Apollinian, Faustian, and Magian Soul\u003cbr\u003eVII-Music and Plastic--The Arts of Form\u003cbr\u003eVIII-Music and Plastic--Act and Portrait\u003cbr\u003eIX-Soul-image and Life-feeling--On the Form of the Soul\u003cbr\u003eX-Soul-image and Life-feeling--Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism\u003cbr\u003eXI-Faustian and Apollinian Nature-Knowledge\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this book is attempted for the first time the venture of predetermining history, of following the still untravelled 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 fulfilment--the West-European-American.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHitherto the possibility of solving a problem so far-reaching has evidently never been envisaged, and even if it had been so, the means of dealing with it were either altogether unsuspected or, at best, inadequately used.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIs there a logic of history? Is there, beyond all the casual and incalculable elements of the separate events, something that we may call a metaphysical structure of historic humanity, something that is essentially independent of the outward forms--social, spiritual and political--which we see so clearly? Are not these actualities indeed secondary or derived from that something? Does world-history present to the seeing eye certain grand traits, again and again, with sufficient constancy to justify certain conclusions? And if so, what are the limits to which reasoning from such premisses may be pushed?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIs it possible to find in life itself--for human history is the sum of mighty life-courses which already have had to be endowed with ego and personality, in customary thought and expression, by predicating entities of a higher order like \"the Classical\" or \"the Chinese Culture,\" \"Modern Civilization\"--a series of stages which must be traversed, and traversed moreover in an ordered and obligatory sequence? For everything organic the notions of birth, death, youth, age, lifetime are fundamentals--may not these notions, in this sphere also, possess a rigorous meaning which no one has as yet extracted? In short, is all history founded upon general biographic archetypes?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe decline of the West, which at first sight may appear, like the corresponding decline of the Classical Culture, a phenomenon limited in time and space, we now perceive to be a philosophical problem that, when comprehended...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWindham Press is committed to bringing the lost cultural heritage of ages past into the 21st century through high-quality reproductions of original, classic printed works at affordable prices.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book has been carefully crafted to utilize the original images of antique books rather than error-prone OCR text. This also preserves the work of the original typesetters of these classics, unknown craftsmen who laid out the text, often by hand, of each and every page you will read. Their subtle art involving judgment and interaction with the text is in many ways superior and more human than the mechanical methods utilized today, and gave each book a unique, hand-crafted feel in its text that connected the reader organically to the art of bindery and book-making.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe think these benefits are worth the occasional imperfection resulting from the age of these books at the time of scanning, and their vintage feel provides a connection to the past that goes beyond the mere words of the text.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Landmark Booksellers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45675826774256,"sku":"9781628451276","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0586\/1385\/8477\/files\/9781628451276.jpg?v=1748057463","url":"https:\/\/shop.landmarkbooksellers.com\/products\/the-decline-of-the-west-volume-1","provider":"Landmark Booksellers","version":"1.0","type":"link"}