Oswald Spengler: A Critical Estimate

by H. Stuart Hughes

Since its publication in 1918, Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West has been the object of academic controversy and opprobrium. In their efforts to dispose of it, scholars have resorted to a variety of bitter invective, icy scorn, urbane mockery, or simply pretending that the book is not there. Yet generations of readers have refused to be warned off, finding in Spengler a prophetic voice and a source of profound intellectual excitement. H. Stuart Hughes's Oswald Spengler offers a judicious and objective reading of Spengler's works that admirably fills the gap between hypercritical invective and naïve enthusiasm. This pioneering volume makes clear why Spengler's pessimistic reading of the fate of European civilization continues to resonate with contemporary anxieties.Despite the author's self-imposed intellectual and social isolation, Spengler's work was as Hughes demonstrates, a part of the enormous effort of intellectual reevaluation that has characterized the early twentieth century. Viewing Spengler in the broadest possible perspective, the author places his thought in its cultural relationship to that of such predecessors as Giambattista Vico, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Nikolai Danilevsky and contemporaries including Benedetto Croce, Henri Bergson, and Vilfredo Pareto. A chapter of Hughes's book is devoted to Spengler's influence on later cyclical thinkers such as Arnold Toynbee and Pitirim Sorokin. Another chapter clarifies the essentially antagonistic relationship between his thought and Nazi ideology.Throughout, Hughes is carefully attuned to the complex and often bewildering shifts of Spengler's ideas and manner, providing a unified picture of the sober historian; the lofty seer; the cool, detached observer; and the impassioned participant. In his introduction to this new edition, Hughes comments on the timeliness of Spengler's message with respect to technology and environmental issues and draws some unexpected and fascinating parallels between Spengler's thought and that of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Oswald Spengler offers an illuminating view of the achievements and limitations of one of the most influential and representative figures of the twentieth century. It will be of concern to intellectual historians, philosophers, political scientists, and sociologists.

Genres: History, Philosophy

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[AC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads like what, essentially, it is. A series of undergraduate lectures from the 50's -- offered by an Ivy-League, tweed-suited, OSS/CIA connected, pompously bourgeoise, 'slightly' radical and donnish (the 'gentleman rebel') Hughes. It is not hagiographic, but he is somewhat sympathetic to Spengler on account of his own apparent hostility towards positivism in historiography and his own tendency towards big-picture simplifications. The best parts of this book, in fact, are those in which he presents (Ch. 2) a clear, thumbnail sketch of the historical temper of the late 19th-early 20th century's political, Romantik modernisms of Nietzsche, Pareto, Sorel, and Bergson -- while reading this I thought it would be an excellent text for some of my less sophisticated students; and his account of World-cycle history in, especially Vico and Danilevsky (the latter being an influence on Putin). His account of Spengler's own system (Ch. 5) can hardly rise above the profound mediocrity of its subject (Spengler's Decline of the West) which, when stripped of its portentious mania -- which so appeals to the undergraduate mind of deracinated bourgeois intellectuals, leaves little residue -- though, admittedly, he view of the 'future' DOES (intuitively grasped) have more than a little resemblence to our present (p. 84f.): the coming Caesarism, the levelling mass-societies of "barrack-cities", and the rise of a new primitivism (think American Mega-Churches).

Usually three-stars means (for me) that the book is junk. But this is a three-star book that many will find it worth reading -- . It's very short, and the last half (Spengler's politics of the '20s and '30s, and his successors and positivist critics) can be safely and quickly skimmed.

The references to two critical articles by R.G. Collingwood are given on p. 96n.14, and there is a very short, but useful account of the Neo-idealism of Croce (to which Collingwood ascribed) at 35f. There is also a good quick review of the 'humanistic Hegelianism' of Jacob Burckhardt at 17ff.

[noblethumos · Rating 5 out of 5]

"H. Stuart Hughes' 'Oswald Spengler: A Critical Estimate,' originally published in 1952, serves as a comprehensive and scholarly evaluation of the German historian and philosopher Oswald Spengler, best known for his work 'The Decline of the West.' Hughes’ book is a significant contribution to the field of intellectual history, offering a nuanced and critical examination of Spengler's ideas and their impact on 20th-century thought.

Hughes meticulously examines Spengler's philosophical and cultural theories, particularly the idea of cultures having life cycles similar to those of biological organisms. This approach allows readers to grasp the complexity and breadth of Spengler's vision, which encompasses history, culture, politics, and art. Hughes successfully contextualizes Spengler within the broader intellectual milieu of his time, illuminating how his pessimistic worldview resonated with the anxieties of the post-World War I era.

One of the strengths of Hughes’ work is its balanced critique. He acknowledges the breadth and originality of Spengler’s thought while also highlighting its flaws and inconsistencies. Hughes points out the deterministic and often vague nature of Spengler's cultural predictions, and how they sometimes verged on fatalism. This critical stance provides a more rounded understanding of Spengler's intellectual legacy.

However, some critics might find Hughes’ approach overly cautious or academic, potentially underplaying the more radical implications of Spengler's thought. Additionally, the book primarily focuses on Spengler’s philosophical ideas, giving less attention to his influence on later thinkers and movements, which could have provided a more comprehensive view of his historical significance.

Oswald Spengler: A Critical Estimate' by H. Stuart Hughes stands as an important work for those seeking to understand the complex and often controversial ideas of Oswald Spengler. Hughes’ meticulous research and balanced analysis make this book a valuable resource for students and scholars of history, philosophy, and cultural studies. While the book may not delve deeply into the broader impact of Spengler's thought, it remains a key text for understanding one of the early 20th century’s most provocative and influential thinkers."

GPT

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Decline of the West offers the nearest thing we have to a key to our times but formulates more comprehensively than any other single book the modern malaise that so many feel and few can express. It has become the classic summary of the familiar pessimism of the twentieth-century West with regard to its own historical future.” (165)

This book is an excellent introduction to Spengler’s terse magnum opus, his life, and his thought world. Hughes seems to agree with other critics that Spengler’s other works aren’t very good (especially Man and Technics), and he is comfortable criticising Spengler where he sees Spengler falling short or being obscurantist.

However, Hughes’ appreciation really brings out what was attractive in Spengler’s work. History was becoming dominated by historical materialism, positivism, and the Annales School. Lots of historians, naturally, saw history as progressive - things got increasingly better and more rational. But Spengler saw history as cyclical and denounced mankind as merely another animal.

Spengler wasn’t a nihilist, but rather a Nietzschean. He thought that cycles of history could be commandeered in some sense, the cycles could be developed, but civilisations would still rise and fall inevitably. A Caesar like figure can grasp the epoch. Here we see Spengler’s connection to Elite Theory (and potential overlap with Pareto in particular).

This all seems a bit strange and spiritual for a modern historian. But regardless of Spengler’s whacky method and idiosyncratic style, his work does have a level of ambition and scope that would be exceedingly rare for a contemporary academic historian. Disciplinary boundaries and the ‘publish or perish attitude’ would prevent this book from even being imagined as a viable project. Perhaps it is in this light we should appreciate Spengler…