During the First World War a German historian produced a book which caused quite a stir among intellectuals around the world. By collating events in different (usually non-contemporary) cultures and civilisations, Spengler maintained that it should be possible to fill in gaps in history¹, and indeed to set out possibilities for the future, although admittedly only in terms of very broad generalisations.

It was an extremely ambitious undertaking, but after the Second World War his ideas became unfashionable (mainly for political reasons). Nevertheless, Spengler's book is a work of monumental scholarship, discussing in depth such diverse topics as mathematics, music, architecture, painting, theology and money, with brief but still erudite excursions into other subjects including law, chemistry, linguistics, space-time relativity and literature, integrating them all into a single coherent philosophy.
 

Nine or Ten "Higher Organisms"

Most people find it extremely difficult to accept Spengler's basic thesis, namely that cultures and civilisations are living organisms in their own right², just like plants, animals and humans, although of a much higher rank. Each culture has its own distinctive soul, which expresses itself in artistic, scientific, political, economic and religious forms.

Spengler identifies nine higher organisms. Three of them, the Babylonian, Ancient Egyptian, and Classical (Graeco-Roman), perished long ago, with their landscapes becoming subsequently overlain by later cultures³. (If he were writing today, he might well include in his list the recently discovered pre-Hindu Indus Valley Civilisation). Three others, the Indian, Chinese and Arab-Persian, attained "old age" many centuries ago, but have never been wholly extinguished. A seventh culture matured in Mexico and Guatemala, only to suffer a sudden and violent death at the hands of Spanish invaders (although it could be said that a few "glowing embers" still remain). Spengler says very little about the Peruvian Culture, but Francis Yockey, one of his foremost disciples, regards it as a twin of the Mexican, suffering the same fate.

Two cultures have not yet completed their "life-cycle". Western Civilisation is one, well into late adulthood (hence the title of his book - "The Decline of the West"). Another has been born in Russia⁴, but is handicapped through trying to absorb alien ideas from the much older Western organism; Spengler calls this phenomenon a "pseudomorphosis".

Another example of that was his "Magian Culture", which grew up in the shadow of various older civilisations (in particular the Classical), causing it to become distorted and fragmented into Arabian, Zoroastrian, Byzantine, Hebrew, Coptic, Armenian and other components⁵. Only with the rise of Islam did this culture manage to break free from the pseudomorphosis and discover its true soul.

One phenomenon which might be easier to explain in terms of a higher organic entity is an increase in male birth-rate to replenish losses incurred in a major war. Admittedly, those instances could simply be accidents of statistics⁶, but this example does at least help to illustrate the concept and role of a higher organism with its own will and consciousness.

Like individual people, cultural organisms differ in character, ability and aptitude. Thus, calculus and the theory of mathematical functions, soaring Gothic cathedrals and a music based on fugal composition all express characteristically Western passions, which are akin to our love of vast wide-open spaces as well as our intense interest in the distant past and concern for the far future⁷.

In a contrasting manner, geometry, statics and sculpture were all creative expressions of a mind obsessed with the corporeal and with "here-now" - that which produced the Ancient Greek Culture⁸. Similarly, algebra, alchemy and arabesque were all manifestations of another unique culture-personality, as also were acupuncture, Taoism and Chinese art. And in the Hindu world, yoga and dance-forms attained levels of sophistication never equalled elsewhere.
 

Phases of Development

Just as a human being reaches puberty during the second, and full adulthood in the third decade of life, a culture also passes through phases of predetermined sequence whose durations do not vary greatly from one higher organism to another⁹. Its "springtime" is characterised by strong religious faith, which slowly gives way to increasing intellectuality and materialism. A culture's "summer" is an era of great creativity: in Europe, this witnessed the crystallisation of a totally new concept in mathematics (calculus) simultaneously in the minds of two people working quite independently - Newton and Leibniz¹⁰. The same centuries saw the birth of oil painting and the flowering of a style of music completely unknown before the advent of Western Culture¹¹.

During "autumn", life becomes dominated by materialism and by purely rational thought¹². Warfare between the culture's constituent nations increases in intensity, with tensions between various strata of society also reaching breaking point. Eventually, one state becomes vigorous enough to conquer and absorb all others, imposing an authoritarian "Imperium" ¹³. In the Classical world this was achieved by the Romans, and in Peru by the Incas. In Central America, the Aztecs were consolidating their gains when Spanish Westerners intervened. In eastern Asia, it was the state of Qin (Ch'in) which ultimately incorporated the rest, giving the name China to the integrated empire.

During the Imperium, people realise the limitations of a purely intellectual view of the universe, so there is a return to religion - based on that of earlier centuries, but differently experienced through having emerged from a more advanced way of life¹⁴.

If Spengler is right that cultures really are living, organic units, then all those changes are as inevitable as formation of blossom and then fruit on many trees, or as "necessary" as the emergence of a butterfly from the chrysalis of certain insects¹⁵. There is only one alternative - namely sickness followed by premature death of the cultural organism.

What stage, according to Spengler, has Western Civilisation reached? His answer will horrify most people - the 20^th and 21^st centuries were destined to be those of transition into our "Roman-style" era¹⁶, but this was prevented (or maybe delayed) by Germany's defeat in two world wars. Any organism's growth and development may be stunted or even destroyed by outside interference (Mexico being the prime example); accordingly, Yockey points out that without Russian involvement, the Second World War would have ended quite differently¹⁷.

17. Imp pp. 571-573. Cf. HoD pp. 208-209, 228-229.

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