From Fatalism to Hope: Oswald Spengler, Arnold J. Toynbee, and Samuel Huntington on the Principles of History

Jolanta KOLBUSZEWSKA

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the catastrophic elements in Oswald Spengler’s philosophy of history, which shaped the 20th century Euro-Atlantic ideas. Spengler’s ideas reflected the pessimistic attitudes characteristic of the philosophy of history and culture since the mid-nineteenth century. His theoretical pessimism was developed against the background of the ongoing economic crisis, class conflicts, wars and revolutions. The transformation of the existing social order prompted the idea of nature being the opposite of culture. Thus questioning the value of progress, together with the belief that the modern world was in crisis, became the core philosophical ideas of the time. Spengler, the author of The Decline of the West and Man and Technics, heralded an imminent demise of the Western culture. He advanced the idea that progress is necessarily accompanied by evil and regression. Spengler’s philosophy of culture and history influenced thinkers such as Arnold J. Toynbee, the author of A Study of History, and Samuel Huntington, known for his Clash of Civilizations. The author of the paper outlines the main ideas of Spengler’s philosophy of history, and then analyzes the similarities and the differences between his vision and the views of Toynbee and Huntington, respectively. The analysis points out to the fact that both Toynbee and Huntington succeeded in overcoming Spengler’s extreme catastrophist attitude.