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Herman provides an excellent introduction to the philosophy of history. The writing is exceptionally lucid for a topic so demanding. "Serious scholars" might not appreciate summary discussions of Spengler, Hegel, Toynbee, Chamberlain, Dubois, Garvey, Aquinas, and others, but the form of Herman's presentation suits his ultimate goal just fine. Furthermore, the willing reader will learn a great deal about classic works in the field AND be entertained. "The Idea of Decline" constantly challenges one to consider the value of clearly stated world views and, if readers share my experience, they will be encouraged to pursue further reading in the philosophy of history with vigor. In sum : A great, thought-provoking read.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
I first encountered the idea of decline, in the 1970's as a graduate student in physics, through the work of my professor, the historian of science Stephen G. Brush. Professor Brush associated the idea of decline with the discovery of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. In spite of my admiration for Brush (whose book, THE TEMPERATURE OF HISTORY, Herman does not mention), I think that Herman has done a better job in describing the history of the Idea of decline, which indeed arose long before the Second Law was discovered. Rather, I now believe -- in large part because of the evidence Herman has presented in this book -- that the Second Law was interpreted as a guarantee of ineviable decline BECAUSE the virus of the idea of decline was already infecting the Western mind. (The physicist Pierre Duhem pointed out in the late 19th century that the Second Law actually does not imply inevitable decline.) Herman has written what is probably the best defense of the Enlightenment ideals, namely progress through physicial science and rationality, that I have seen in many years. Herman describes at length the personal connections between the philosophers of decline, and I think this description is one of the book's greatest strengths. Herman emphasizes the remarkable fact that all the Decliners, Left and Right, were united by a deep hatred for both Newtonian mechanics and Christianity. On reflection, this common hatred is not surprising, since these are the foundation of modern human civilization which the Decliners also hate and aim to destroy, as documented by Herman at length in this book. An extraordinary achievement. I'm very pleased that there are still scholars like Herman. With men like Herman around, writing books like this, the Decliners may yet fail to destroy civilization.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
_The Idea of Decline in Western History_ (1997) by historian Arthur Herman is an interesting study of the notion of decline and the decline theory applied to Western history. Herman traces the origins of the notion of decline to ancient sources, noting how generational conflicts gave rise to an older generation seeing a younger generation as in decline. Herman considers how these notions came to take on an important role in European and Western history in which civilization came to be understood as entering a period of decline from a previous era. In contrast to theories of progress, which argued that civilization and "civil society" had come about through a progression from previous eras, decline theorists maintained that civilization had entered a period of decadence and decline following some previous Golden Age. In fact, the decline theory amounts to an understanding of the nature and meaning of time and may be seen in the notion of "inevitable historical laws". Perhaps the most notorious decline theorists were those who made arguments concerning degeneration or in a similar vein to Oswald Spengler's famous _The Decline of the West_ which argued that Western history had entered an inescapable period of decline. Herman considers various versions of this theory that proliferated in Western history ranging from ancient times to the Renaissance to nineteenth century racial theories and theories of degeneration to the decline theories of various German academics to modern leftist theories of decline and multiculturalism and finally to ecological theories of decline which have come to play a more important role in the recent era. This book offers a fascinating study of the origins of such theories and the role of cultural pessimism in Western history and philosophy.Read more ›
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23 of 29 people found the following review helpful
The viewpoint of Spengler on the decline of the West is an insidious thesis whose continued popularity and beguiling appeal endures notwithstanding the severe flaws that emerge on closer examination. The same could be said for Toynbee's elaboration of the idea of the West's inevitable decline. Herman here joins the ranks of the critics and, despite a prickly bias in his viewpoint, makes a good case for the fallacy of the prophets of doom. And this via the history, e.g. such works as Nordau's Degeneration, of the constellation of ideas behind these first of the 'postmoderns'. In some ways the view of the classical liberal is an appropriate response to the cockeyed conservatism of Spengler, and here we have the correct suggestion the rise of the modern is a creative era in world history, and not the tail end of some Faustian civilization beginning in the year 1000 AD. Still, the issue of decline won't go away, if only because nothing lasts forever. But the latter is not an historical thesis or theory, and it is false to say that decline is inevitable, let alone that some invigorating barbarism will renew our esthetics. So far from being an aberration the Enlightenment brought into being a new age of history, and to foresee decline, and this unconsciously willed as some perverse progress, bespeaks only the idiotic epigone of Nietzche. Herman makes this basic point in a fashion that might not sit well with the mystique of the Spenglerian horde. As for Toynbee, his mechanics of history simply cannot deal with the facts of the rise of the West or its significance in any intelligent way, as if the author stepped from some medieval monastery to be appalled at the end times in the birth of freedom. Let's hope we don't go down fighting against this tide of willed self-destruction which seems attractive to the enemies of the Enlightenment. A bit 'thinktankish', but a useful work.
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