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Man and Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life

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Spengler wrote "Man and Technics" as a short and accessible supplement to his 'magnum opus', "The Decline of the West". Despite being short this is in fact a truly GREAT book. Spengler examines man's way on earth from the perspective of a philosophical anthropology. In agreement with the other exponents of reactionary modernism in Weimar Germany, Spengler focuses on technology as the critical feature of the Faustian Western Civilization. Spengler uses the Goethian hero in order to disclose to the reader the likely outcome of man's blind worship of instrumental technological reason. At the same time he scorns the West for its imperialism and violation of the life-style of other cultures. Apart from the -mostly accurate - prognoses that it makes, "Man and Technics" reveals a detached view of humanity as if perceived from an Archimedean point of view. Spengler remains a great thinker, rather misunderstood, who ought to be rediscovered by modern intellectuals for his penetrating insight and his uncompromising honesty!

The edition of _Man and Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life_ by Oswald Spengler that I read does not appear to be advertised on this website. It is a small paperback printed in Britain by the European Books Society and features a pen-outline of a burly bald man wearing a suit and holding a cigar (presumably Spengler himself). I found _Man and Technics_ to be a wierd philosophic exposition of the origins of humanity and the organic process of birth, flowering, decay and death that human Cultures inevitably face. The greatest Culture of all is the Western or "Faustian" Culture which far outranks the Classical (Greco-Roman), Arabic, Chinese, Indian, Mexican Cultures. It is something of a manifesto of extreme pessimism regarding the fate of the West and of its people in Europe and America. The Faustian Culture, of which America is a younger shoot, based in Western Europe, began to form around 1000 AD and it is marked by spiritual uncertainty, but an innate ability in Spengler's theme of "Technics." Technics involves the use of the reasoning faculties of the Mind in accordance with the physical use and manipulations of objects by the Hand to make whatever that is outside of man's being in Nature subject to man's will. This provides obvious advantages and also extremely serious disadvantages as well. The more a group of human beings became more machine, material and industry orientated, the more they tried to control Nature--the more Nature will eventually bring about the destruction of the human Culture that builds itself up over time and becomes overgrown, the same as individual plants, animals and plants die--as living organisms. Spengler, in the last page of _Man and Technics_ concludes that there is nothing that can be done to abort the fall of Faustian Civilization, which is ruined by internal decadence, economic competition from without, and the militancy of non-Western peoples who will use Western technology against Europe and America. Spengler regards any notion of optimism about the outcome of human affairs to be cowardly and any hope of utopian salvation to be a flighty dream. The best thing that any man can do in the face of eventual destruction is an honorable end following the choice of Achilles: "Better a short life full of deeds and glory than a long life without content." Spengler, a German philosopher influenced by the works of Nietzsche and contemorary with the National Socialist movement in Germany was a "conservative revoloutionary" opposed to the modern life of artificial material comfort and lack of individuality and spirit. Spengler may be viewed as being "racist," but his outlook on environmental damage was ahead of his time. This book does not, nor is likely to, have a wide audience, but it gives a different view of history in which Cultures and Civilizations are viewed as living organisms which live and die rather than in the liberal/economic interpretations of human affairs currently ascendant in social-political theory. Some of the material is outdated (_Man and Technics_ was written in the 1930s) and innacurate, but remains insightful in an analysis of the fate of the West today.

Read Spengler's work for a graduate class in history.

Oswald Spengler's "Man and Technics" is a work that looks at the development of man in pre-history. A portion of history he did not cover in his previous seminal work "The Decline of the West." Spengler argues that by studying humankind's early development one can deduce the thread of civilization to "the great secret of man's destiny," which is the ultimate decline of Western civilization and the rise of "the eastern race." "The exploited world is beginning to take its revenge on its lords" (102). When one looks at current political and economic events it is hard to disprove Spengler's thesis!


Spengler first observes how humans developed differently from the rest of the animal kingdom. From Nietzsche, who influenced Spengler greatly, he argues that humans share the upper part of the pyramid with other "beasts of prey." Spengler believes our carnivorous instincts are "hardwired" in our DNA, never to change. This idea he says runs counter to Rousseau's idea of humans as "noble savages" who should really spurn these instincts magnified by civilization. It also runs counter to Utilitarian philosophy, or other collectivist philosophies such as Communism.

Spengler finds that mankind sits atop the "beast of prey" pyramid because of two physiological developments, the suppleness of the human hand, and our ability to speak. The hand allows us to make tools, speech allows us to organize society and create government, and culture. With this observation in human development Spengler posits the following. "Technics in man's life is conscious, arbitrary, alterable, personal, inventive. It is learned and improved. Man has become the creator of his tactics of living--that is his grandeur and his doom. And the inner form of this creativeness we call culture" (30-31). Our inventiveness, the Industrial Revolution is, as Spengler argues, mankind's ultimate decline. "The privilege of creation has been wrested from Nature...This is the beginning of man's tragedy--for Nature is stronger of the two" (44). Why is this the beginning of man's tragedy? Spengler argues that, "This petty creator against Nature, this revolutionary in the world of life, has become the slave of his creature. The Culture...The beast of prey, who made others his domestic animals in order to exploit them, has taken himself captive" (69). Thus, Spengler has a pessimistic view of mankind's future.

At the writing of this book, Spengler had just witnessed the most destructive force of man's industry, "The Great War." "The degree of military power is dependent on the intensity of industry" (92). This brings Spengler's work full circle, back to why he argues the West is in decline. He observes that soon after the industrial revolution the Asian race, formerly exploited by the West, emerges as a dominant force. "Within thirty years the Japanese became technicians of the first rank, and in their war against Russia, (the 1905 Russo-Japanese War), they revealed a technical superiority from which their teachers were able to learn many lessons" (101). I think the Chinese are on the verge of fulfilling Spengler's prophecy 100 years later!

'Man and Technics' was written as a kind of precis to Spengler's magnum opus 'Decline of the West', and as such makes one want to read the latter. In this short book, Spengler claims that the technical side of man's existence only became a 'problem' in the 19th century, and two answers to the 'problem' were then given.

The first was simply to ignore it, to see it beneath one, not a part of higher culture. The second and opposite was the materialist approach (which Spengler regards as mainly English in origin), characterised by "a devastating shallowness...even today, when we are still living out the last phases of this trivial optimism, these imbecilities make one shudder, thinking of the appalling boredom that spreads over the soul in the mere reading of such idylls, of which even a partial actualization in real life could only lead to wholesale murder and suicide."

But while those who believe in 'progress' are generally materialists (Spengler derides them as half-educated), the great discoverers and inventors (whom 'progress' depends on) have rarely been materialists themselves - an observation also made by Deepak Chopra. Spengler thought the materialist approach AND the 'ignore technics and bury your head in the sand' approach were both obsolete in the 20th century...but here we are in the 21st, and the materialist/'progressive' worldview is still very much the mainstream norm, while the 'head in the sand' approach is also quite common, especially in the arts scene.

For Spengler, technics must be understood not in terms of the implements used, but of what one DOES with them (i.e. it must be understood with the soul).

Human technics isn't the same as 'technology' - the latter is also found in ants (agriculture, road building etc.). Unlike ants, humans are capable of invention and development. Human technics is something independent of the compulsion of the species. "Man has become the creator of his tactics of living - that is his grandeur and his doom" (his tragedy, too, because he is still ultimately dependent on nature).

Spengler traces the development (as he sees it) of technics via the eye, hand and tool. Then comes the step "from organic to organised existence", that is, the rise of 'enterprise' (collective doing by plan). But with the coming of rationalism, "the belief in technics almost becomes a materialistic religion. And its worshipper is the progress-philistine of the modern age."

But the machine is now revolting against its creator (Nordic Man), just as man himself once revolted against Nature. "All things organic are dying in the grip of organization. The Civilization itself has become a machine..."

European (or 'Faustian') culture is characterised by "a spiritual reaching out into boundless space". It is the most powerful the world has known, but also the most tragic..."tragic on a scale "greater than anything Ęschylus or Shakespeare ever imagined." This is because of "the inward conflict between its comprehensive intellectuality and its profound spiritual disharmony."

The Faustian culture which invented most of our current technics no longer has an interest in controlling them - it freely shares them with other races. The rise of an Asian technocratic elite bears Spengler out in this. What for Faustians was a spiritual necessity, for the coloured races is merely "a weapon in their fight against the Faustian civilization," thinks Spengler, a weapon to be discarded as soon as they have finished the job.

So for Spengler, technics itself is drawing to an end. But "the honourable end is the one thing that cannot be taken from a man."

This kind of heroic pessimism will be hard to stomach for many. An alternative could be along the lines Miguel Serrano advocated in 'The Hermetic Circle', namely that Europeans should now turn their gaze inward rather than outward...but of course that won't satisfy those who demand a political solution.

Read Spengler's work for a graduate class in history.

Oswald Spengler's "Man and Technics" is a work that looks at the development of man in pre-history. A portion of history he did not cover in his previous seminal work "The Decline of the West." Spengler argues that by studying humankind's early development one can deduce the thread of civilization to "the great secret of man's destiny," which is the ultimate decline of Western civilization and the rise of "the eastern race." "The exploited world is beginning to take its revenge on its lords" (102). When one looks at current political and economic events it is hard to disprove Spengler's thesis!


Spengler first observes how humans developed differently from the rest of the animal kingdom. From Nietzsche, who influenced Spengler greatly, he argues that humans share the upper part of the pyramid with other "beasts of prey." Spengler believes our carnivorous instincts are "hardwired" in our DNA, never to change. This idea he says runs counter to Rousseau's idea of humans as "noble savages" who should really spurn these instincts magnified by civilization. It also runs counter to Utilitarian philosophy, or other collectivist philosophies such as Communism.

Spengler finds that mankind sits atop the "beast of prey" pyramid because of two physiological developments, the suppleness of the human hand, and our ability to speak. The hand allows us to make tools, speech allows us to organize society and create government, and culture. With this observation in human development Spengler posits the following. "Technics in man's life is conscious, arbitrary, alterable, personal, inventive. It is learned and improved. Man has become the creator of his tactics of living--that is his grandeur and his doom. And the inner form of this creativeness we call culture" (30-31). Our inventiveness, the Industrial Revolution is, as Spengler argues, mankind's ultimate decline. "The privilege of creation has been wrested from Nature...This is the beginning of man's tragedy--for Nature is stronger of the two" (44). Why is this the beginning of man's tragedy? Spengler argues that, "This petty creator against Nature, this revolutionary in the world of life, has become the slave of his creature. The Culture...The beast of prey, who made others his domestic animals in order to exploit them, has taken himself captive" (69). Thus, Spengler has a pessimistic view of mankind's future.

At the writing of this book, Spengler had just witnessed the most destructive force of man's industry, "The Great War." "The degree of military power is dependent on the intensity of industry" (92). This brings Spengler's work full circle, back to why he argues the West is in decline. He observes that soon after the industrial revolution the Asian race, formerly exploited by the West, emerges as a dominant force. "Within thirty years the Japanese became technicians of the first rank, and in their war against Russia, (the 1905 Russo-Japanese War), they revealed a technical superiority from which their teachers were able to learn many lessons" (101). I think the Chinese are on the verge of fulfilling Spengler's prophecy 100 years later!

Read Spengler's work for a graduate class in history.

Oswald Spengler's "Man and Technics" is a work that looks at the development of man in pre-history. A portion of history he did not cover in his previous seminal work "The Decline of the West." Spengler argues that by studying humankind's early development one can deduce the thread of civilization to "the great secret of man's destiny," which is the ultimate decline of Western civilization and the rise of "the eastern race." "The exploited world is beginning to take its revenge on its lords" (102). When one looks at current political and economic events it is hard to disprove Spengler's thesis!


Spengler first observes how humans developed differently from the rest of the animal kingdom. From Nietzsche, who influenced Spengler greatly, he argues that humans share the upper part of the pyramid with other "beasts of prey." Spengler believes our carnivorous instincts are "hardwired" in our DNA, never to change. This idea he says runs counter to Rousseau's idea of humans as "noble savages" who should really spurn these instincts magnified by civilization. It also runs counter to Utilitarian philosophy, or other collectivist philosophies such as Communism.

Spengler finds that mankind sits atop the "beast of prey" pyramid because of two physiological developments, the suppleness of the human hand, and our ability to speak. The hand allows us to make tools, speech allows us to organize society and create government, and culture. With this observation in human development Spengler posits the following. "Technics in man's life is conscious, arbitrary, alterable, personal, inventive. It is learned and improved. Man has become the creator of his tactics of living--that is his grandeur and his doom. And the inner form of this creativeness we call culture" (30-31). Our inventiveness, the Industrial Revolution is, as Spengler argues, mankind's ultimate decline. "The privilege of creation has been wrested from Nature...This is the beginning of man's tragedy--for Nature is stronger of the two" (44). Why is this the beginning of man's tragedy? Spengler argues that, "This petty creator against Nature, this revolutionary in the world of life, has become the slave of his creature. The Culture...The beast of prey, who made others his domestic animals in order to exploit them, has taken himself captive" (69). Thus, Spengler has a pessimistic view of mankind's future.

At the writing of this book, Spengler had just witnessed the most destructive force of man's industry, "The Great War." "The degree of military power is dependent on the intensity of industry" (92). This brings Spengler's work full circle, back to why he argues the West is in decline. He observes that soon after the industrial revolution the Asian race, formerly exploited by the West, emerges as a dominant force. "Within thirty years the Japanese became technicians of the first rank, and in their war against Russia, (the 1905 Russo-Japanese War), they revealed a technical superiority from which their teachers were able to learn many lessons" (101). I think the Chinese are on the verge of fulfilling Spengler's prophecy 100 years later!

Read Spengler's work for a graduate class in history.

Oswald Spengler's "Man and Technics" is a work that looks at the development of man in pre-history. A portion of history he did not cover in his previous seminal work "The Decline of the West." Spengler argues that by studying humankind's early development one can deduce the thread of civilization to "the great secret of man's destiny," which is the ultimate decline of Western civilization and the rise of "the eastern race." "The exploited world is beginning to take its revenge on its lords" (102). When one looks at current political and economic events it is hard to disprove Spengler's thesis!


Spengler first observes how humans developed differently from the rest of the animal kingdom. From Nietzsche, who influenced Spengler greatly, he argues that humans share the upper part of the pyramid with other "beasts of prey." Spengler believes our carnivorous instincts are "hardwired" in our DNA, never to change. This idea he says runs counter to Rousseau's idea of humans as "noble savages" who should really spurn these instincts magnified by civilization. It also runs counter to Utilitarian philosophy, or other collectivist philosophies such as Communism.

Spengler finds that mankind sits atop the "beast of prey" pyramid because of two physiological developments, the suppleness of the human hand, and our ability to speak. The hand allows us to make tools, speech allows us to organize society and create government, and culture. With this observation in human development Spengler posits the following. "Technics in man's life is conscious, arbitrary, alterable, personal, inventive. It is learned and improved. Man has become the creator of his tactics of living--that is his grandeur and his doom. And the inner form of this creativeness we call culture" (30-31). Our inventiveness, the Industrial Revolution is, as Spengler argues, mankind's ultimate decline. "The privilege of creation has been wrested from Nature...This is the beginning of man's tragedy--for Nature is stronger of the two" (44). Why is this the beginning of man's tragedy? Spengler argues that, "This petty creator against Nature, this revolutionary in the world of life, has become the slave of his creature. The Culture...The beast of prey, who made others his domestic animals in order to exploit them, has taken himself captive" (69). Thus, Spengler has a pessimistic view of mankind's future.

At the writing of this book, Spengler had just witnessed the most destructive force of man's industry, "The Great War." "The degree of military power is dependent on the intensity of industry" (92). This brings Spengler's work full circle, back to why he argues the West is in decline. He observes that soon after the industrial revolution the Asian race, formerly exploited by the West, emerges as a dominant force. "Within thirty years the Japanese became technicians of the first rank, and in their war against Russia, (the 1905 Russo-Japanese War), they revealed a technical superiority from which their teachers were able to learn many lessons" (101). I think the Chinese are on the verge of fulfilling Spengler's prophecy 100 years later!

Read Spengler's work for a graduate class in history.

Oswald Spengler's "Man and Technics" is a work that looks at the development of man in pre-history. A portion of history he did not cover in his previous seminal work "The Decline of the West." Spengler argues that by studying humankind's early development one can deduce the thread of civilization to "the great secret of man's destiny," which is the ultimate decline of Western civilization and the rise of "the eastern race." "The exploited world is beginning to take its revenge on its lords" (102). When one looks at current political and economic events it is hard to disprove Spengler's thesis!


Spengler first observes how humans developed differently from the rest of the animal kingdom. From Nietzsche, who influenced Spengler greatly, he argues that humans share the upper part of the pyramid with other "beasts of prey." Spengler believes our carnivorous instincts are "hardwired" in our DNA, never to change. This idea he says runs counter to Rousseau's idea of humans as "noble savages" who should really spurn these instincts magnified by civilization. It also runs counter to Utilitarian philosophy, or other collectivist philosophies such as Communism.

Spengler finds that mankind sits atop the "beast of prey" pyramid because of two physiological developments, the suppleness of the human hand, and our ability to speak. The hand allows us to make tools, speech allows us to organize society and create government, and culture. With this observation in human development Spengler posits the following. "Technics in man's life is conscious, arbitrary, alterable, personal, inventive. It is learned and improved. Man has become the creator of his tactics of living--that is his grandeur and his doom. And the inner form of this creativeness we call culture" (30-31). Our inventiveness, the Industrial Revolution is, as Spengler argues, mankind's ultimate decline. "The privilege of creation has been wrested from Nature...This is the beginning of man's tragedy--for Nature is stronger of the two" (44). Why is this the beginning of man's tragedy? Spengler argues that, "This petty creator against Nature, this revolutionary in the world of life, has become the slave of his creature. The Culture...The beast of prey, who made others his domestic animals in order to exploit them, has taken himself captive" (69). Thus, Spengler has a pessimistic view of mankind's future.

At the writing of this book, Spengler had just witnessed the most destructive force of man's industry, "The Great War." "The degree of military power is dependent on the intensity of industry" (92). This brings Spengler's work full circle, back to why he argues the West is in decline. He observes that soon after the industrial revolution the Asian race, formerly exploited by the West, emerges as a dominant force. "Within thirty years the Japanese became technicians of the first rank, and in their war against Russia, (the 1905 Russo-Japanese War), they revealed a technical superiority from which their teachers were able to learn many lessons" (101). I think the Chinese are on the verge of fulfilling Spengler's prophecy 100 years later!