Prophet of Decline: Spengler on World History and Politics (Political Traditions in Foreign Policy)

Customer Reviews:

A superb contribution to the study of Spengler's life and thought.......2005-09-09

John Farrenkopf's _Prophet of Decline_ fills a gaping hole on a controversial historian. Farrenkopf effectively shows the greatness and magnitude of Spengler's thought while keeping a critical eye throughout the book.

Farrenkopf's prose is crisp and fluid - certainly a complement to the rigidity and obtuseness that is typical of Spengler. Farrenkopf goes to great pains to not only dispel certain lingering myths about Spengler (specifically, that he was a Nazi sympathizer) but also to familiarize the reader with Spengler's influences (especially Ranke) and his more obscure works. As it is impossible to understand Spengler without a larger understanding of the historicism (and Goethe) that permeated his worldview at the time, this contribution is long overdue.

Farrenkopf also devotes quite a bit of time to Spengler's obscure political phase. While certainly an authoritarian conservative, Spengler was certainly no Nazi - he viewed Hitler as a man more "of the people" than a "leader of the people." While Spengler did find court with the Nazi regime during its early years, it appears that it quickly lost interest in him. In fact, Hitler made a reference to "Decline of the West" in one of his speeches - stating unequivocally that he was opposed to the book's thesis!

The book ends on a tragic note as the reader comes to terms with Spengler's "ultra-pessimistic" view of reality. There is no saving culture, Spengler says - we must all come to terms with the fact that our culture will extinguish itself, just as our own lives will eventually wither away. Coming to terms with the true implications of Spengler is not an easy task - especially when one considers that one of the few things Spengler got wrong was his glacial timeframe for predicting the demise of the West. However, foreknowledge of impending doom may lead to potential greatness: in the end of Spengler's _Man and Technics_, he implores us to heed the following words: "We are born into this time and must bravely follow the path to the destined end. There is no other way. Our duty is to hold on to the lost position, without hope, without rescue, like that Roman soldier whose bones were found in front of a door in Pompeii, who, during the eruption of Vesuvius, died at his post because they forgot to relieve him. That is greatness. That is what it means to be a thoroughbred. The honourable end is the one thing that can not be taken from a man."

In close, _Prophet of Decline_ is an excellent, timely, and long overdue contribution to the study of a man that may yet prove to be the West's greatest seer.

Book Description

Originally edited by Thomas H. Greer, this series emanates from the Humanities Department at Michigan State University. Today, these books remain outstanding sources for the comprehensive study of most subject areas included under the umbrella of humanities. Most major literary forms are represented: essay, poem, short story, play, novel, memoir, epigram, scientific discourse, philosophical treatise, political manifesto, and religious proclamation. Major subject areas include art, music, education, mathematics, biology, psychiatry, religion, philosophy, politics, economics, and physics.Originally published under the General Editorship of Thomas H. Greer, the series emanated from the Humanities Department of Michigan State University. The books remain today perhaps the best sources available for the comprehensive study in one volume of every subject area which might be included in the umbrella of humanities. Most major literary forms are represented: essay, poem, short story, play, novel, memoir, epigram, scientific discourse, philosophical treatise, political manifesto, and religious proclamation. All major subject areas are explored: art, music, education, mathematics, biology, psychiatry, religion, philosophy, politics, economics, and physics. The informative apparatus, headnotes, and footnotes are all aimed at enhancing the student-reader's comprehension.

Classics of Western Thought Series: Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, Volume II (Classics of Western Thought)

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Classics of Western Thought Series: Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, Volume II (Classics of Western Thought)
Karl F. Thompson
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MC56LE

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The Gardens of Gilgamesh

My brain is glowing

One of the Most Fascinating Books That I've Ever Read!

A Fun and Fascinating Read

Live forever?

A Beginner's Guide to Immortality: Extraordinary People, Alien Brains, and Quantum Resurrection
Clifford A. Pickover
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books
General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
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Sex, Drugs, Einstein & Elves: Sushi, Psychedelics, Parallel Universes and the Quest for Transcendence

The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience

Time: A Traveler's Guide

Strange Brains and Genius: The Secret Lives Of Eccentric Scientists And Madmen

The Heaven Virus

ASIN: 1560259841

Book Description

A Beginner's Guide to Immortality is a celebration of unusual lives and creative thinkers who punched through ordinary cultural norms while becoming successful in their own niches. In his latest and greatest work, world-renowned science writer Cliff Pickover studies such colofrul characters as Truman Capote, John Cage, Stephen Wolfram, Ray Kurzweil, and Wilhelm Rontgen, and their curious ideas. Through these individuals, we can better explore life’s astonishing richness and glimpse the diversity of human imagination.
Part memoir and part surrealistic perspective on culture, A Beginner's Guide to Immortality gives readers a glimpse of new ways of thinking and of other worlds as he reaches across cultures and peers beyond our ordinary reality. He illuminates some of the most mysterious phenomena affecting our species. What is creativity? What are the religious implications of mosquito evolution, simulated Matrix realities, the brain’s own marijuana, and the mathematics of the apocalypse? Could we be a mere software simulation living in a matrix? Who is Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and Emanuel Swedenborg? Did church forefathers eat psychedelic snails? How can we safely expand our minds to become more successful and reason beyond the limits of our own intuition? How can we become immortal?

Customer Reviews:

The Gardens of Gilgamesh.......2007-01-29

In "Sex, Drugs, Einstein & Elves" Cliff Pickover revealed a side of his personality that was well-camouflaged in his first thirty some-odd books on mathematics, time travel, fractals, aliens, patterns, puzzles, God, etc. Indeed, writing so many books in such a short time may be the root cause of his now irrepressible eclecticism. This latest effort, "A Beginner's Guide to Immortality: Extraordinary People, Aliens Brains, and Quantum Resurrection," has many similarities to SDE&E. Not only is it written with an exuberance that complements the author's multi-dimensional perspective, the prose remains clear and accessible even as Pickover explores the complex reaches of transcendental reality.

One of the highlights of "A Beginner's Guide to Immortality" is Chapter 3, "Gilgamesh, God, and the Language of Angels." Pickover confesses that the "Epic of Gilgamesh" is one of his deepest obsessions. And we get a feel for his zeal as he recounts the ancient Mesopotamian king's search for immortality. But there is also a lot of extraneous material in this chapter. It's a virtual Mind Salad of eclecticism. Pickover's brain is fizzing with ideas and impressions, perhaps as a result of his relentless work ethic and voracious reading habits, and they seem to inundate his consciousness as he writes. I find this stimulating. Others may differ, wishing instead for a simpler, more direct narrative line.

At his best, Pickover's mind is encyclopedic -- correction: it's Wikipedic! It's Google-alien! Who else would focus on "The Brain from Planet Arous" in a chapter about Truman Capote? But Pickover does, and it can be fascinating because you get a completely different mental picture once you exit Truman Capote's peculiar oeuvre and enter the zany universe of Fifties science-fiction flicks, of which Pickover is a connoisseur. He loves the movies themselves, but also their filmmakers and the whole idea that some P.T. Barnum showman could make some outrageous, low-budget, horror-show hokum with B-list actors and still turn a tidy profit.

But Pickover can also be deadly serious, and I find this quote from "The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft, (which also appears in Chapter 3) to be quite haunting:

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We lie on the placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of disassociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."

After reading "A Beginner's Guide to Immortality" you may suspect that Cliff Pickover actually wants "the human mind to correlate all its contents." Which could be precisely what happens to the most intelligent human beings in the 21st Century anyway. If so, what he has to offer in this book should be of interest to the armchair existentialists. We all want to live forever. But then again, maybe not.

My brain is glowing.......2007-01-28

Pickover knows just what to say to kickstart the parts of your brain you haven't even used yet. Reading this book is like taking a walking tour through the magical zone where your life and reality and history and b-movies intersect. Educational, hilarious, mind-blowing, engaging and full of zest and zing, Pickover punctuates his prose with trenchant quotes aplenty. The thing you learn quick when traveling in the Pickover realm is that your brain is always growing and learning, and there is no limit to how far we can go. This guy's also got a generous heart and spirit, you can feel it in the words he writes, and that sort of hawk-eyed optimism for a transcendental, trans-dimensional future is damned contagious. I read this book and I feel like whatever happens, the collective mass of DNA we call the world/self is gonna be not only fine but blazin'! Plus it's light (nice soft pages) and has cool purple cover, with a skull!

One of the Most Fascinating Books That I've Ever Read!.......2007-01-24

I really loved *A Beginner's Guide to Immortality*! Clifford Pickover summarized so many thought-provoking and mind-expanding ideas in this book that I thought my head might explode. I simply couldn't put this book down. Every page is bursting with so many creative ideas that I actually had to close my eyes every few minutes just to think about the implications of what he was saying. This book really expanded my perception of reality. Very highly recommended reading!

A Fun and Fascinating Read.......2007-01-03

I just finished Pickover's book and like the way he bridges all sorts of different ideas, interspersed with great quotes form notables. For example, he weaves the lives of famous authors, Science Fiction Films, anthropologists, philosophers, scientists, mind altering drugs, mathematical equations into a fascinating and fun discovery of ideas and notions I never would have thought about. Particularly interesting are the strange, quirky and addictive habits and coincidences of highly creative people. As a non-academic, he made many topics easily accessible and a blast to read. I like the way he goes off on tangents, as they are always interesting. Any scientist who entertains notions of parallel universes, DMT ingestion, liver divination and intelligent design (to name a few) is OK in my book. Enjoy.

Live forever?.......2006-12-22

Live forever? Isn't that what immortality is all about? Well, yes and no. In this delightful new book by Clifford Pickover, the author explores many routes to immortality. This book continues the explorations that the author began in his previous "Sex, Drugs, Einstein and Elves." Throughout, he interweaves themes on the nature of reality, people of genius, and of course how to achieve immortality.

Early on, Pickover casts doubt on the thesis that you can achieve immortality by creating a work of literature. He lists a sampling of best-sellers from 1950. Most are not known today. Other more exotic routes to immortality may be through the quantum theory of many worlds. In one of these you may never die. Too bad it is not the one that you live in now. We may all have our thoughts replicated in the storage of a massive computer. Or better yet, there are enough stray electrical impulses in a cubic mile of lime Jell-O to mimic our thought processes so that we might find our eternity there. If this is too mechanistic for you, there remains the religious concept of an afterlife in heaven or perhaps in hell if you do not qualify for heaven.

On every page of this book, you can find a new idea explored. Are we at the beginning or the end of the human species? Can we actually be living in a simulation like that in the "Matrix" movie? Are people with additional fingers smarter? Where are the "missing links" in the record of evolution?

There is a mechanism that Pickover begins to explore at the end of the book. We are all linked to each other by the threads of our relationships. What is the Internet if not an instantiation of a giant network of relationships? I used to think that writing your name on a web page was like writing your name in sand at the beach. However, now I am not so sure. Nothing ever seems to go away on the web. Perhaps, we are now finding our way to immortality in the sum of our ever-increasing Google hits.

Brain Surgery for Beginners and Other Major Operations for Minors: A Scalpel-Free Guide to Your Insides

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3 ½* Misleading Title: More Body Than Brain
T

Brain Surgery for Beginners and Other Major Operations for Minors: A Scalpel-Free Guide to Your Insides
S.Parker/D.West
Manufacturer: Millbrook Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anatomy & Physiology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1562948954

Customer Reviews:

3 ½* Misleading Title: More Body Than Brain.......2002-11-21

This book is really more about the organs and tissues then the brain. Because the brain regulates the entire body, the author spends an inordinate (and misleading, from the title) amount of time on topics other than the brain; for example, the different types of teeth, and the layers of the skin. For this reason, a lot of fascinating brain-related information is omitted.

The author is also a bit too glib, and this gives a very mixed tone of the serious and the off cuff: "the two are brought together by sexual intercourse (a term often shortened to `sex' when people are in a hurry"). Moreover, admonishments to care for your body (brush your teeth, exercise more, etc.) seemed out of place. On the positive side, the book has some fun illustrations (although a too cluttered at times), and the large color pictures of the organs and brain are fairly easy to understand. 62 pages, with a short glossary and an index.

T.......1998-11-04

This book guides you through the Human body like none other with very detailed pictures and captions. It tells you about how surgeons can replace organs and how doctors look inside you body. It also gives a picture of each vital (and non-vital) organ and tells you how it works.

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Brain Surgery for Beginners and Other Major Operations for Minors: a Scalpel-free Guide to Your Insides

Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0590031872

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The Brain: A Beginner's Guide
Ammar al-Chalabi
Manufacturer: Oneworld Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anatomy | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1851683739

Book Description

Turner and Delamont cover all the key areas, including the anatomy and development of the brain and how the sensory and nervous systems work. They also explore perception, language and memory, and consider how a better understanding of the brain could solve major questions such as What is consciousness?

Scrambled Brains: A Cooking Guide for the Reality Impaired

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Scrambled Brains: A Cooking Guide for the Reality Impaired
Robin Konstabaris
Manufacturer: Arsenal Pulp Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Cooking | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1551520427

Book Description

Scrambled Brains is a decidedly offbeat cookbook for those living and eating on the edge-urban warriors and young hipsters low on funds but high on attitude. Robin, a visual artist, and Pierre, a chef, are roommates who joined forces to create a spirited yet highly usable book of recipes, comics, and anecdotes based on their solemn belief that it doesn't take a whole lot of cash to have a whole lot of fun in the kitchen.

Alongside traditional treats such as pasta, risotto, and blackberry pie are such intriguing, unusual delicacies as Nun's Farts (an Acadian bun), Tortilla de Patatas (a very special tortilla), Did You Think I'd Crumble? (a pie for those suffering from unrequited love), and the Exploding Jesus Cake made with fresh seasonal fruit and a small explosive device). There's also ideas for making Subliminal Alphabet Soup, leftover Kraft Dinner art, and tips for putting together your own Naked Dinner Party.

Recipes (and comic strips) are organized into chapters. In "Poverty Kitchen" are recipes for those on a budget. "Soup Line Favourites" is, you guessed it, a collection of various soup recipes. "Party" outlines themes and menus for throwing your own fabulous parties. In the "Cooking With Weeds" chapter are recipes for more "adventurous" cooks (those who tend to get the munchies). And the recipes contained in "Bad Trade" are not for the faint of heart.

Scrambled Brains is an irreverent and innovative cookbook chockful of glamourous food ideas that turn meal-making into performance art.

Product Description

What is your interest in wildlife? Do you feed, watch, or photograph birds? Do you hunt white-tails, mallards, or pheasants? Maybe you like listening to frogs in the spring. Or perhaps you just enjoy the beauty of the natural world. Creating Habitats and Homes for Illinois Wildlife will inspire, instruct and encourage you to enjoy and conserve the rich wildlife legacy of the Prairie State. It will give you the know-how and the confidence to plan projects tha tprovide habitats and homes for wildlife and to sustain your work once it's complete. The help is here--in clear, concise words and stunning imagery--to guide your management of grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, croplands, or your own backyard for the benefit of wildlife. Creating Habitats and Homes for Illinois Wildlife will help you do your part to see that wildlife still have a home in the ever-changing landscapes of our state.

Ecology and Management of Coppice Woodlands

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Ecology and Management of Coppice Woodlands

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0412431106

Book Description

Contributed to by leading experts, this book looks at the history of coppice woodlands, their physical environment, the different management techniques used and their effects on the flora and fauna. The implications of this for conservation is controversial and this is debated in a lively way in many of the chapters.

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Forests and Woodlands (World Habitats)
Rose Pipes
Manufacturer: Raintree
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

General | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

A Landowner's Guide : Wildlife Habitat Management for Vermont Woodlands

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A Landowner's Guide : Wildlife Habitat Management for Vermont Woodlands
Ronald J.; Parren, Steve; Darling, Scott; Blodgett, Doug; Buck, John; Myers, Tom; Crenshaw, Bill; Royar, Kim; Willey, Ch Regan
Manufacturer: Vermont Departments of Fish & Wildlife / Forests, Parks & Rec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UTLU6O

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Managing & Conserving Grassy Woodlands
S. McIntyre , J.G. McIvor , and K.M. Heard
Manufacturer: CSIRO Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Book Description

In eastern Australia, grassy eucalypt woodlands have been under severe pressure from agricultural development, with problems of land degradation and species decline being most severe in the cropping lands of south-eastern Australia.

Managing and Conserving Grassy Woodlands describes a set of principles that will enable landholders to maintain or increase productivity without compromising ecological sustainability, and at the same time maintaining a substantial proportion of the native flora and fauna. The book provides the technical foundations underpinning the principles and explains the importance of planning at a landscape scale.

Each major principle is addressed in a separate chapter which explains the scientific understanding behind the principle and which discusses some of the issues relating to its practical application. Additional chapters outline the basic ecological concepts underpinning the principles and the responses of landholders who have had the opportunity to discuss and reflect on the principles. For those interested in translating the principles into a property plan, a final chapter explores the steps that can be taken.

Managing and Conserving Grassy Woodlands is intended for those at the interface of disciplinary research and on-ground application, whether they are working in research, regional planning, extension, landcare or land management.

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Managing small woodlands for elk (Woodland fish and wildlife)
W. Daniel Edge
Manufacturer: World Forestry Center
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Management | Forestry | Agricultural Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006R5WQ4

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Managing small woodlands for grouse (Woodland fish and wildlife)
Ron Shay
Manufacturer: Washington State University Cooperative Extension
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Natural Resources | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006QZXCI

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The Oak Woodland Bird Conservation Plan: A Strategy for Protecting and Managing Oak Woodland Habitats and Associated Birds in California (Version 2.0)

Manufacturer: California Oak Foundation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I2BW6Q

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UNGULATE-HABITAT RELATIONSHIPS IN A SOUTH AFRICAN WOODLAND / SAVANNA ECOSYSTEM.
S. Hirst
Manufacturer: The Wildlife Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WQCSL6

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