Arguments with fictional philosophers: Spengler's Kant and the conceptual foundations of Spengler's early philosophy of history
G. Swer
History of the Human Sciences March 22, 2023 DOI: 10.1177/09526951231156040 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Spengler's philosophy of history is an expression of his deeper concern with the structures of human consciousness, and that his account of subjective consciousness explains features such as the cultural isolation hypothesis and the critique of Eurocentric historiography. Proposes that Spengler's critical engagement with the Kant character in the first volume of The Decline of the West is the route to this theory of consciousness. |
Abstract
Most commentators on Spengler's philosophy tend to focus on the details of his cyclical theory of world-history, according to which history should be understood in terms of the rise and fall of great cultures. I argue that Spengler's philosophy of history is itself an expression of his primary concern with philosophical analysis of the structures of human consciousness, and that an awareness of Spengler's account of the existential structures of subjective consciousness enables one to grasp the reasoning behind some of the key features of his philosophy of history, such as his cultural isolation hypothesis and critique of Eurocentric historiography. I further argue that the way to access Spengler's theory of consciousness, and the ways in which it informs his philosophy of history, is via his critical engagement with the Kant character that recurs in the first volume of The Decline of the West.