Decline Of Europe Research Articles

Культурно-историческая концепция О. Шпенглера в современной российской историографии

The article examines the main trends in the analysis of the cultural and historical concept of the author of the “Decline of Europe” in Russian humanitarian thought of the late XX–XXI centuries. The authors of the article have studied the modern stage of Russian humanitarian thought, within the framework of which the process of transition from Soviet ideological and methodological monism to methodological pluralism in the study of O. Spengler’s legacy is taking place. Having studied the works of historians, philosophers, cultural scientists, sociologists, political scientists and other representatives of Russian humanitarian thought, the authors analyzed modern interpretations and modern perception of O. Spengler’s cultural and historical concept in the Russian humanities. The article proves that the crisis of the methodology of humanitarian cognition of Soviet Marxism opens up for domestic researchers completely new theoretical and methodological approaches to the interpretation of O. Spengler’s cultural-historical concept, which, as a result, will affect the development of modern Russian historiography.

Russian Response to Oswald Spengler

The article examines the reception and creative response of Russian Silver Age historiosophy to the works of O. Spengler. Special attention is paid to the very fi rst and even now most valuable comments on “The Decline of Europe” in Russia – a collection of articles “Oswald Spengler and the Decline of Europe” published in 1922, as well as some later most interesting interpretations of O. Spengler in Russia. The author analyzes P.M. Bicilli’s concept of “secondary barbarism” and P. Sorokin’s concept of civilizational cycles. He shows the heuristic nature of these concepts for the analysis of the modern socio-cultural situation and its inclusion in the tradition of Russian historiosophical thought. It is shown that Russian philosophers were not only followers or critics of O. Spengler, but also developed his “Slavophil” ideas.

Russian culture as a civilizational phenomenon: aspect of values

The article is devoted to the understanding of the Russian culture as a phenomenon of Eastern Christian civilization. The author analyzes the main historical stages of the formation of the Russian culture in its interrelation with religion, worldview and social political life of the corresponding period against the background of substantial facts, principally based on the Russian literature and philosophy. Proceeding from the principled diagram of civilization as a concentric system of social casings, located around the religious valuables kernel, the author keynotes the continuity of the country’s cultural code despite the revolutionary shifts in time, irrespective of the existence of the Peter the Great Western-like reform, February or October coup d’état in 1917 or collapse of the USSR late in XX century. The basic methodological categories of the given analysis are the paradigms of the classical, modernist and post modernist style as integral features of history and theory of the Russian Orthodox civilization on the whole, starting from Baptizing of the Russ and ending with the contemporary crucial stage of its existence. The principled attention is drawn towards the general European and world context, which take place in this country’s culture and which on the one hand are an aspect of the global ideological development, and on the other are the unique creative acts of our centuries-old tradition. In this aspect this country’ spiritual culture with all its worldwide nature (Dostoevsky F.M.), early XXI century is becoming a kind of an alternative for a post modernist destruction of a man’s image as an integral being. The utmost expression of the latter are the trans humanistic tendencies in the “decline of Europe”, threatening to turn Homo Sapiens into an artificial cyborg.

Cultural-philosophical comprehension of O. Spengler's "Decline of Europe" in Chinese thought of the early XX century

The object of this research is the tradition of comprehension of cultural identity in China of the early XX century. The subject is impact Oswald Spengler's "Decline of Europe" upon this tradition. There are multiple mentions of Spengler in the articles and essays of Chinese students who studied in Germany in the early 1920s; by the 1930s, his views underlay the cultural concepts developing in China. In the Chinese historical studies of later period, the publication of "Decline of Europe" appears near equal in importance to the World War I. This article aims to determine why the experience of Spengler's Eurocentric concept turned out to be so profound in the alien Chinese culture, and which means can be used for analyzing such experience within the framework of the philosophy of culture. The conclusion is made that the influence of the "Decline of Europe" upon Chinese thought dedicated to the questions of culture was multidimensional. On the one hand, the very fact of the emergence of "Decline of Europe" within the Western philosophical tradition was significant for Chinese intellectuals. Against the background of crisis of the strategy of all-round Westernization of Chinese society, the "Decline of Europe" became the so-called legitimation of the reasoning on "Chinese culture " as a unique phenomenon. On the other hand, Chinese thought comprehended the conceptual part of Spengler’s ideas taking roots in the specificity of Chinese philosophical tradition. This problem was the main focus of research. Substantiation is given to the thesis, according to which the morphology of Spengler's culture, fragmented to separate concepts and then integrated on the virtually intuitive level, can still be allotted a cultural-philosophical status in the "Chinese version". The novelty consists in reconsideration of the scientific work of Oswald Spengler through the prism of non-Western philosophical traditions, which draws particular interest in the light of development of postcolonial research.

Концепция «Старой» и «Новой» Европы Романа Дмовского и её роль в дискурсе современной польской международной политики

Roman Dmowski, a Polish nationalist and a founder of the independent Polish state, occupies an important place in Polish history. After the restoration of Poland on the political map of Europe, there was a need for a certain foreign policy that could give prosperity to a country de facto deprived of its agency for 123 years. Dmowski argues that the national identity can be protected from the Protestant countries of the West only through defining it as a main guardian of the Latin civilization. He formulated this thesis on the basis of Houston Chamberlain's The Foundation of the 19th Century, Oswald Spengler's The Decline of Europe and numerous works of Feliks Koneczny, who had a fundamental influence on Dmowski. His concept aimed at saving the Latin civilization (Italy, Poland, and France, led by Charles Maurras) from the affects of Jewish civilization and Protestantism in particular, representing the Latin civilization largely due to the reinterpretation of the Protestant countries and its further antagonization. This bloc was purely defensive and wasn't implemented in practice. Speaking about the discourse of modern Polish foreign policy, one can find many allusions to Dmowski, although it should be understood that the Polish government are not endecja (Narodowa Demokracja). So, for example, the “German-Pole” dichotomy, which was used Dmowski, is now in many ways one of those associated with the intra-European crisis. Now, in connection with the events of February 24, Poland potentially has every chance of becoming a hegemon in the Eastern European policy of the European Union, since it fully supports Ukraine and close integration with it. Since Ukraine is already a candidate for EU membership, this will allow it to compete with Germany in EU politics and possibly even result in EU reforms, due to its active pro-Ukrainian policy.

Парадоксы глобализации: культурфилософский анализ политико-экономической традиции изучения феномена

The relevance of research interest in the processes of globalization is due to its interdisciplinary nature. The greatest activity of the authors is concentrated in the field of political and economic discourse of globalization. At the same time, assessments of globalization vary up to the opposite, there is no unity of views, and according to the definition of the term «globalization». The solution of the questions, which processes can be understood within the framework of the concept of globalization, and which cannot, is complicated by the conviction of researchers about the paradox of globalization. In the current political and economic discourse, at least two concepts of the «paradox of globalization» coexist — John Nesbit and Denis Rodrik. The purpose of this study is to overcome the inconsistency of the research practices of globalization by turning to the cultural-philosophical reflection of the basic, inalienable properties of the European spirit, which took place in the first half of the 19th century. Based on the analysis of the research approaches of critics and supporters of the Enlightenment, G. Hegel, G. von Hardenberg (Novalis), O. Spengler, the article defines the main research positions in the interpretation of the primacy of the European spirit. Using classical philosophical methodology, the analysis of the domestic philosophical reception of these research positions is carried out. As a result of the study, the conclusion is substantiated that there is a theoretical and methodological fairway in understanding the processes of globalization, formed by the European cultural and philosophical tradition. With this approach, the paradoxes of globalization reveal a stable connection and recognizable features with the fundamental positions of the European philosophy of culture, which sees the foundations of European hegemony either in the Christian faith (Novalis) or European rationality (Hegel), which constitutes the main scientific novelty of the study, which has practical significance both for globalism and for the philosophy of culture. Globalistics acquires stable foundations, worked out in the philosophy of culture, the philosophy of culture gets access to a new «universal” — a modern multidirectional world in which cultural processes cannot be isolated from political and economic reality. The idea that the crisis of European civilization, the «decline of Europe» is associated either with the loss of faith or with the decline in the role of knowledge, needs further theoretical and methodological elaboration, also updated from the side of the modern political and economic discourse of globalization.

Francophone literature in search of happiness

The article deals with modern French-language literature on the loss of a person’s sense of happiness and harmony. The study authors explore the work of Western European novelists, who not only record the next decline of Europe but also try to return a sense of dignity to their fellow citizens. For centuries, literature has offered various forms of describing the uniqueness of human interaction with the world. If realism gives rise to a literature of explication that thinks aloud, and modernism tries to free the art of realists from layers of pretense, then the oppositional postmodern aesthetics proposes the so-called pluralism of reading practices, which frees both the reader and the literary critic from the need to search for forerunners and origins. Having experienced postmodern delight at the turn of the 21st century, the modern Western European writer en masse returns into the fold of realistic literature, in which a person is determined both socially and historically. At the same time, preference is given to documentary literature, which includes both memoirs, diaries, and essays, and the auto-fictional novel, known today as the “non-fiction” novel which has been in the focus of scholars’ attention for many years. Whatever forms modern literature may use to disguise itself, even if these forms are the most flowery, its main task is to describe a contemporary who lives with an inescapable feeling of the end of the world, trying to regain the meaning of life, to find footholds that are described in such detail by centuries of aesthetic practice. Therefore, the subject of the study is the classical categories: life, family, love, and peace of mind. The purpose of the study is to describe the current state of literature in Western European countries, identify the trends of its development and genre preferences of the experts of culture. The novelty of the study consists in the fact that the concept of “happiness” is investigated for the first time using the example of French-language literature, and the works of writers little studied in Russian criticism, such as A. Makine and Catherine Lovey, are introduced into academic circulation.

Metamorphoses of Political Neoliberalism.

The phenomenon of political liberalism and its genesis and evolution are explored. This phenomenon is studied using interrelated methodological principles at the crossroad of political philosophy, political theory, and international relations theory. The author analyzes the discourse of the “decline of Europe” and, more broadly, of the Western-centric world through the prism of changes in the forms of classical liberalism that have become part of political ideology. Special attention is paid to political neoliberalism, which from a once dynamic system of principles and values has turned into a dogma and is associated with the least popular aspects of the hyperphase of globalization. The elements of the weakening of Westcentrism are described, including the strategic decoupling of the United States and its European allies. The topic of the militarization of thinking and foreign policy of some countries is discussed. The author holds that the degradation of political neoliberalism clears the way to the search for a new balance between the ideological traditions of liberalism, conservatism, and collectivism.

Declining competitiveness in the film industry: the British experience in Japan, 1910–1923

Throughout the 1900s, Britain and Japan enjoyed a close diplomatic relationship that was best exemplified by their alliance of twenty years (1903–1923). Cultural ties during this period though were more distant. Despite this complex relationship, British film distributors were active in Japan during the 1910s. However, their competiveness would weaken to the extent that they were eventually displaced by the Hollywood studios by the 1920s. Against this backdrop, Anglo-Japanese relations also became more distant following the end of World War I. The common perception is that the political situation related to the war had a significant impact on the decline of Europe’s film industries. This paper examines the factors behind the British film industry’s struggles in Japan that seem to correlate with the final chapter of the close political relationship in the late 1910s. It will show that actually the post-World War I political environment had little impact upon the decline of the British presence in the Japanese film market. Rather it was industrial factors ranging from changes in film distribution to the quality of films produced that limited the opportunities for British film companies. Such findings have important implications for Europe’s film industries today who are confronted by Hollywood’s dominance.

Metamorphoses of Political Neoliberalism

The phenomenon of political liberalism and its genesis and evolution are explored. This phenomenon is studied using interrelated methodological principles at the crossroad of political philosophy, political theory, and international relations theory. The author analyzes the discourse of the "decline of Europe" and, more broadly, of the Western-centric world through the prism of changes in the forms of classical liberalism that have become part of political ideology. Special attention is paid to political neoliberalism, which from a once dynamic system of principles and values has turned into a dogma and is associated with the least popular aspects of the hyperphase of globalization. The elements of the weakening of Westcentrism are described, including the strategic decoupling of the United States and its European allies. The topic of the militarization of thinking and foreign policy of some countries is discussed. The author holds that the degradation of political neoliberalism clears the way to the search for a new balance between the ideological traditions of liberalism, conservatism, and collectivism.

Oswald Spengler. Young Conservative Geopolitics

Oswald Spengler belongs to the trend in the so-called “conservative revolution” which was entitled “young conservatism” (Jungkonservative) in times of Weimar Republic and was close to the political position of German business and military elites. The projects of those elites before and during the First World War and their development up to the seizer of power by the Nazis and the Second World War apply to the geopolitics, and Spengler was one of the most talented representatives and creators of those plans in world politics. His views on the world politics are determined by the Lebensphilosophie (philosophy of life) described in the fragments of his main “metaphysical” work Urfragen and his philosophy of history stated in the book “Decline of Europe”. Particular attention in the article is paid to his views on Russia, both in the second volume of “Decline of Europe” and in his last work “The Years of Decision”. The transition from culture to civilization that started in the 19th century, lead to the epoch of world wars and revolutions in the 20th century. According to Spengler, two types of revolution threatened the West, - the “white revolution” in western countries themselves, that Spengler termed “Bolshevism”, and the “colour revolution’ in the colonies. The military power of new Caesars would put the end to those revolutions, as well as liberalism and parliamentarism. According to Spengler, Germany was the only land, that preserved the main features of the “Nordic race”; and that’s why could unite Western countries in the struggle for self-preservation. Spengler’s heroic pessimism affirmed the readiness to resist the history course: the time of the “Faust” culture was nearly over, but for two more centuries it would be necessary to fight hard from the losing positions.

Oswald Spengler and Mikhail Menshikov: Culture Estimation from the Standpoint of State Interests

The article presents the comparative analysis of certain aspects of the socio-political views of Oswald Spengler and Mikhail Menshikov. The author reveals certain similarity of the processes of their personal formation, which could also affect the conformity of their views on a number of issues of the cultural development of the state and nation, perceived syncretically. The comparison of Menshikov’s ideas in the period of his work in “The Nedelya” journal with the views of Spengler expressed in his fundamental work “The Decline of Europe” has already been carried out by Russian researchers, albeit to a limited extent. Therefore, the author of the research uses as sources for his studies primarily the articles by Menshikov published in the late period of his journalistic activity at “Novoye Vremya” newspaper, and Spengler’s book “Years of Decisions”, which is also one of his last significant works. The author considers both thinkers to be apologists for the priority of state interests, without which, according to them, the preservation of the nation won’t be possible. The political views of Spengler and Menshikov are characterized by the article author as conservative state nationalism, manifested in such ideas as: the preservation of “healthy” folk traditions, aristocracy as civil service, subordination of personal interests to the state. On the basis of the comparison of Menshikov’s and Spengker’s ideas the author comes to the conclusion about the similarity of the problems faced by Russia and Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Spengler – the Harbinger of National Socialism

Henri Massis devoted special attention in his publicism to the issues of Germany and Russia as enemies of France and “the West” and he analyzed Oswald Spengler’s book “The Decline of Europe” as the philosophy that served, according to the author, as the basis for further coming into power of national socialists in Germany. While considering all the simplifications of the concept of O.Spengler (who was a recognized adversary of national socialism), the article gives the idea of how it was received by the conservative circles in France of the day.

Реальная и экзотическая Сибирь в повести Всеволода Иванова «Возвращение Будды»

The article examines two opposing images of Siberia, created in the story of Vsevolod Ivanov “The Return of the Buddha”. It is noted that the main feature of the writer’s works of the early 1920s critics both at home and abroad called it “the discovery of Siberia”, while emphasizing that “East and Asia prevail in Vsevolod Ivanov’s Siberia” (A. Voronsky). In the story “The Return of the Buddha” in the description of Siberia during the Civil War the terrible realities are emphasized: destruction, insurrections, famine, cruelty both on the part of the white guards and on the part of the Reds, against the background of which the representatives of the Soviet power are very ironically given. Exotic Siberia has different, extended spatio-temporal boundaries and includes the legend of the 300 th awakening of the Buddha, told to the hero of the story by the Mongol Dava-Dorzhchi, as well as the verses of Chinese poets given in epigraphs to its chapters. The real sources of the legend texts (“Encyclopedic Dictionary” by F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron) and poems of ancient Chinese poets – the scientific work of V. M. Alekseeva “Chinese poem about a poet. Stansi Sykun Tu (837–908). Translation and research with attachment of Chinese texts” (Petrograd, 1916). The author of the article shows that, despite the formal remoteness of the spatial coordinates of this exotic world from Siberia, their inextricable connection is affirmed in the story. Exotic Siberia, as the author of the article proves, is a part of the vast, mysterious East – the world of high spirit, selfless devotion, faith and freedom acquired by man. Ivanov’s idea that the East, and not the West, is the focus of spirituality and culture is considered in the article in the historical, political and bio- graphical contexts of the early 1920s. In the policy of Soviet Russia, it was at this time that a turn to the East was taking place – the preparation of elements of the Asian orientation of the world revolution. However, for Ivanov, as the author of the article shows, the East is by no means an oasis of the future communist society. His understanding of the East and West is much closer to the concepts of philosophers, authors of the books “Exodus to the East. Premonitions and accomplishments. Approval of the Eurasians” (1921) and “Oswald Spengler” and “The Decline of Europe” (1922). The biographical realities of the life of the writer, who in 1921 came from his native Siberian East to the West – to Petrograd, could also contribute to the creation of a spiritualized and attractive image of Siberia in the story “The Return of the Buddha”.

Ouverture de ‘The New European Industrial Strategy: Companies and Territories’

Europe needs an investment, employment and innovation strategy for new productions driven by the new needs of European citizens. The economic recession of Covid 19 is determined by a collapse in aggregate demand and requires the relaunch of public but also private investments that increase production capacity and diversification towards the new productions required by the needs of European citizens. The increase or the fall of the final demand for private consumption and investments tightly interact with the innovation and investments plans of the companies, with employment changes and with the impact on the natural and physical environment and on the citizen’s quality of life. The international decline of Europe, especially of the Southern Eurozone, relate to a high loss of competiveness, which results from the absence of a common industrial policy, and, on the other side, from the growth of global firms. To address the new problems arising from the structural growth crisis that has characterized European countries in recent years, aggravated by the advent of the recent pandemic, however, a radical change in perspective is needed, giving the territory a new role.

GOVERNANCE EFFICIENCY, ECONOMIC SECURITY AND FEDERALISATION. THE EUROPEAN UNION AT CROSSROADS — IS IT TIME FOR CONSOLIDATION?

The European Union (EU) has certainly reduced its influence in the global economic affairs. Despite the fact that it unites 28 nations, including the former great powers such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, the political and economic power of the community has considerably decreased starting with the second half of 2000s. The present research is undertaken with the aim of increasing the readers’ awareness regarding the necessity of enforcing the EU economic security through consolidating the authority of the supranational bodies in relation with national representatives. The objectives to be reached in this regard include assessing how much the governance efficiency alternations among the EU member countries influence the efficiency of the single market in a globalised society. It was found that several processes determined the decline of Europe’s strength including raising globalisation and increasing competition, economic weaknesses of the EU which worsened during the crisis, stagnation of the integration process, feeble leadership and lack of resoluteness, especially in the most developed EU nations, declining adherence to “core” values, migration crisis, little political commitment to protecting EU’s citizens’ interests, and countries’ individualism in promoting key initiatives.

Plague linked to the mysterious decline of Europe’s first farmers

Researchers discover 4,900-year-old strain of bacterium in Neolithic burial pit. Researchers claim disease wiped out Neolithic settlers — but others aren’t so sure.

Thomas Mann and F. M. Dostoyevsky: on the Essential Dialogue between Germany and Russia

This paper deals with the dialogue between East and West in the creative work of T. Mann and F. Dostoyevsky. The dialogue is focused on issues of essentialism: the truth and the simulacrum and the cultural and artistic activity of two different types (will to live and will to die). T. Mann’s prose is considered in the context of the author’s perception of Dostoyevsky’s oeuvre, which allows the authors to single out the main cultural codes and civilizational constants in the creative work of the two authors (the Western Faustian idea of rationality and the Russian idea of the soul). The article seeks to study T. Mann’s spiritual and creative antinomies, which manifest themselves in the writer’s motto “Dostoyevsky, but in moderation”. The complex interdisciplinary methodology of the research is based on the principle of dialogue between the artistic and the philosophical, the scholarly and the scientific, the religious and the irreligious, and academic and journalistic discourses. A hermeneutic study of literary text means considering it holistically in the context of culture. The authors refer to Dostoyevsky’s Diary of a Writer and Mann’s essays, along with other works by both writers. The main problematic contexts of the study include Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept God is dead and Oswald Spengler’s decline of Europe, along with the philosophical ideas of Western postmodernism (including the theory of simulacra by J. Baudrillard), Jung’s psychoanalytic studies, and the eschatological diagnoses and forecasts of Russian religious philosophy (V. S. Solovyov, N. A. Berdyaev, and I. A. Ilyin). The main results of the study are related to the opposing ideas of Dostoyevsky’s eschatological openness and Mann’s temporal dimension, associated respectively with metaphysical transcendence and humanistic immanence based on Kant’s philosophy of practical reason. A conclusion is drawn about the isomorphism of Dostoyevsky’s prose fiction and journalism and the anti-isomorphism of Mann’s fiction and essays. Choosing between the philosophy of the Nietzschean superman and Dostoyevsky’s Christ-centred ethics, Thomas Mann opts for Dostoyevsky. However, Mann’s perception of Dostoyevsky’s ideas retains a dialogical incompleteness, reflecting the insoluble contradiction between the rational and the irrational conceptions of the German classic.

CRISIS HUMANITY: HERMENEUTICS-PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Hermeneutics-phenomenological methodology can be used to solve the challenges that face today by modern civilization. Hermeneutics and Phenomenology offers a distinctive solution to exit the crisis: instead of rational abstractions to return to the life world of man in all its concrete fullness. Within the framework of philosophical analysis is proposed to use the hermeneutic-phenomenological methodology in dealing with the challenges that are currently facing modern civilization. Studied theoretical and methodological aspects of the culture crisis, as well as his hermeneutic-phenomenological analysis of E. Husserl. His works reflect the general manifestations of the crisis «crisis consciousness». Husserl and Heidegger attributed the crisis to the oppression of the inner nature of man. According to Husserl, the problem of the crisis is based on the idea of the loss of sciences significance, their importance, mankind, having lost faith in the universal philosophy, at the same time has lost all meaning and telos (purpose) of existence. «Crisis», in Husserl, can be explained as seeming collapse of rationalism and cause of difficulties of rational culture, which is not the essence of rationalism by itself, but only in his coverage, in his distortion of «naturalism» and «objectivism.» Husserl believes that there are two ways out of the crisis of European existence: the decline of Europe in alienating its rational sense of life, the hatred of spirit and relapsing into barbarism, or «revival of Europe in keeping with the philosophy thanks to definitively overcome naturalism heroism of reason. Attention is drawn to the fact that one of the important and still largely unexplored problems of its phenomenology – the thesis of Husserl about any coherent meaning more or less adequately by means of a «single intuition» may be subjectively marked in principle, based on the act or intuitive perception of continuous imaging in which the structure and the meaning of other significant features can be read from the corresponding intuitive implementation. Certain contemporary philosophical views on the concept of «crisis consciousness» have been considered, which incorporates different conceptions about the global crisis of modern society and its culture, reflects the general anthropological crisis, and at the same time is an organic part of it; «Crisis outlook», which is interpreted as a crisis of consciousness in two ways: as an experience of the philosophy of the crisis and as a reflection of the crisis of philosophy. It is proved that the central problem of phenomenology becomes a problem of philosophical study of the world as existing independently, but the problem «of sense» of the world, i.e., the disclosure of the activities of consciousness, through which the world appears to us as a hierarchy of meanings. And this semantic interpretation of the phenomenology is based on the method of analysis of intentional consciousness.

Discussion "The Decline of Europe?"

Discussion "The Decline of Europe?"