Abstract

In his most famous work, "Der Untergang des Abendlandes", Spengler attempts a compared analysis of the great world civilizations within the perspective of "universal history". Among the civilizations considered as historically relevant, Spengler analyzes above all the Western one. His point of departure is that every civilization, in a way similar to living organisms, is bound to decadence and death. No civilization offers possibility of choice: eternal truths cannot be formulated, and thought can at best aim at resuming the entire spiritual content of an epoch. Controversially, nevertheless, Spengler falls into the predicament of eternizing the West while describing its end.