Man and Technics
A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life
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Narrated by:
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Jeremy Taescher
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By:
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Oswald Spengler
About this listen
In this new and revised edition of Oswald Spengler's classic Man and Technics, Spengler makes a number of predictions that today, more than 80 years after the book was first published, have turned out to be remarkably accurate.
Spengler predicted that industrialization would lead to serious environmental problems and that countless species would become extinct. He also predicted that labor from Third World countries would increasingly outcompete Western workers by doing the same work for much lower wages and that industrial production would therefore move to other parts of the world, such as East Asia, India, and South America.
According to Spengler, technology has not only made it possible for man to harness the forces of nature; it has also alienated him from nature. Modern technology now dominates our culture instead of that which is natural and organic. After having made himself the master of nature, man has himself become technology's slave. "The victor, crashed, is dragged to death by the team," Spengler summarizes.
Finally, Spengler foresaw that Western man would eventually grow weary of his increasingly artificial lifestyle and begin to hate the civilization he himself created. There is no way out of this conundrum, as the unrelenting progress of technological development cannot be halted. The current high-tech culture of the West is therefore doomed, destined to be consumed from within and destroyed. A time will come, Spengler writes, when our giant cities and skyscrapers have fallen in ruins and lie forgotten "[J]ust like the palaces of old Memphis and Babylon." It remains to be seen if this last, and most dire, of Spengler's prophecies will also come true.
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It has been proclaimed many times, but perhaps never more convincingly than now, when every news cycle seems to deliver further confirmation of a world gone mad. Is this the endgame? Author Spencer Klavan is a classicist, with a Ph.D. from Oxford, and a deep understanding of the West. His analysis: The situation is dire. But every crisis we face today, we have faced before. And we can surmount each one. Klavan brings to the West’s defense the insights of Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, and the Founding Fathers to show that in the wisdom of the past lies hope for the future.
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Spectacular! A must read!
- By M.A. on 02-15-23
By: Spencer Klavan
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Bronze Age Mindset
- By: Bronze Age Pervert
- Narrated by: Adam Smith
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Some say that this work, found in a safe-box in the port area of Kowloon, was dictated because Bronze Age Pervert refuses to learn what he calls "the low and plebeian art of writing". It isn't known how this work was transcribed. The contents are pure dynamite. He explains that you live in ant farm. That you are observed by the lords of lies, ritually probed. Ancient man had something you have lost: confidence in his instincts and strength, knowledge in his blood. BAP shows how the Bronze Age mind-set can set you free from this iron prison and help you embark on the path of power.
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Mandatory Reading For All Men
- By Anonymous User on 11-20-18
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The Technological Society
- By: Jacques Ellul
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Jacques Ellul’s The Technological Society has become a classic in its field, laying the groundwork for all other studies of technology and society that have followed. Ellul offers a penetrating analysis of our technological civilization, showing how technology - which began innocuously enough as a servant of humankind - threatens to overthrow humanity itself in its ongoing creation of an environment that meets its own ends. No conversation about the dangers of technology and its unavoidable effects on society can begin without a careful listening of this book.
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A singular work.
- By Daniel S Hoffman on 06-20-21
By: Jacques Ellul
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Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Hannah Arendt's insightful observations of the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, constitute an impassioned contribution to political philosophy. In Between Past and Future, Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill the vital essence of these concepts and use them to regain a frame of reference for the future.
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Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
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On Revolution
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Hannah Arendt's penetrating observations on the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, have been fundamental to our understanding of our political landscape. On Revolution is her classic exploration of a phenomenon that has reshaped the globe. From the 18th-century rebellions in America and France to the explosive changes of the 20th century, Arendt traces the changing face of revolution and its relationship to war while underscoring the crucial role such events will play in the future.
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Insightful Analysis of Differing Revolutions
- By Roger on 01-10-18
By: Hannah Arendt
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The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind
- By: Gustave Le Bon
- Narrated by: Joseph Gomez
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind is a seminal work on crowd psychology by Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931), a French social psychologist. He observes that a crowd forms when an influential idea unites a number of individuals and prompts them to act towards a common goal. In a crowd, the conscious personality of the individual is submerged and dominated by the collective mind. Furthermore, every sentiment becomes contagious to a degree that individuals readily sacrifice their personal interest to the collective.
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A must read in terms of group psychology....
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 08-19-20
By: Gustave Le Bon
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On the Genealogy of Morals
- A Polemic
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Duncan Steen
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In On the Genealogy of Morals, subtitled "A Polemic", Nietzsche furthers his pursuit of a clarity that is less tainted by imposed prejudices. He looks at the way attitudes towards 'morality' evolved and the way congenital ideas of morality were heavily colored by the Judaic and Christian traditions.
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Be strong, not weak.
- By Wayne on 06-24-13
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Irrationality
- A History of the Dark Side of Reason
- By: Justin E. H. Smith
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Discovering that reason is the defining feature of our species, we named ourselves the “rational animal”. But is this flattering story itself rational? In this sweeping account of irrationality from antiquity to today - from the fifth-century BC murder of Hippasus for revealing the existence of irrational numbers to the rise of Twitter mobs and the election of Donald Trump - Justin Smith says the evidence suggests the opposite.
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A good brain workout
- By ThomasC on 04-09-19
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The Enlightenment
- And Why It Still Matters
- By: Anthony Pagden
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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One of our most renowned and brilliant historians takes a fresh look at the revolutionary intellectual movement that laid the foundation for the modern world. Liberty and equality. Human rights. Freedom of thought and expression. Belief in reason and progress. The value of scientific inquiry. These are just some of the ideas that were conceived and developed during the Enlightenment, and which changed forever the intellectual landscape of the Western world.
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A thorough political tract rather than history
- By Jacobus on 03-08-14
By: Anthony Pagden
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Civilization and Its Discontents, Totem and Taboo
- By: Sigmund Freud
- Narrated by: Martyn Swain
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is remembered as the father of psychoanalysis. Civilization and Its Discontents (1930) is one of his key works, written three decades after his seminal book The Interpretation of Dreams. In it he considers the conflict between the needs of the individual acting both egotistically and altruistically in the pursuit of happiness and the myriad demands of civilised society and the ensuing tensions this clash of needs and demands generates.
By: Sigmund Freud
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The Lessons of History
- By: Will, Ariel Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The authors devoted five decades to the study of world history and philosophy, culminating in the masterful 11-volume Story of Civilization. In this compact summation of their work, Will and Ariel Durant share the vital and profound lessons of our collective past. Their perspective, gained after a lifetime of thinking and writing about the history of humankind, is an invaluable resource for us today.
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This is a must for every Educated Person
- By BradleyBurr on 10-29-07
By: Will, and others
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The Cave and the Light
- Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 25 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.
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All of Western Philosphy Leads to Ayn Rand?!?
- By Leslie on 06-22-15
By: Arthur Herman
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Political disintegration is a persistent feature of world history. The Collapse of Complex Societies, though written by an archaeologist, will therefore strike a chord throughout the social sciences. Any explanation of societal collapse carries lessons not just for the study of ancient societies, but for the members of all such societies in both the present and future.
What listeners say about Man and Technics
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark Smith
- 09-07-23
Oswald Spengler: Not what I thought
Due to the unfortunate coincidence of his name and nationality, I made assumptions as to his ideology.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Now, as was Nietzsche,
I’m a yes-sayer 👍👍
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- Anonymous User
- 08-06-23
Very Interesting
A very interesting look into the philosophical mindset of Spengler in the 1930s. A good read.
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- cpk
- 02-19-23
Analysis of the decline of Western social order.
Excellent reading. The author describes this work as a brief explication of his earlier work,The Decline of the West. He provides a pointed analysis of what was then the "modern" European and North American world, and how its intellectual, social, political, and economic order were setting the stage for its decline, by a kind of "de-industrialization". The argument is not so much a critique, with suggestions of how to avoid this outcome, as that it is inevitable for the West and possibly for any nation.
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- Vitto.
- 06-30-20
He litteraly predicted the future!!!
Very logical order of facts with a chilling analysis and prediction. He clearly sees where this has now become.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-04-20
Let the man talk
Great little book, a lot of interesting ideas that need further development. Only problem is that about 20% is the intro, which is superfluous. Let the work stand on its own feet!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Jaleel Rivera
- 03-26-21
A book for greatness
A truly wonderful book I recommend it for those who feel a sense of regality
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- Leonardo
- 05-06-20
Oswald Spengler
The Mechanization of the World: Spengler starts by discussing the pervasive influence of technology in modern civilization. He argues that technology has extended its reach into all spheres of human life, altering the way people perceive and interact with the world.
Machine and Apparatus: Spengler examines how machines and apparatuses have become integral to human existence. He asserts that technology transforms not only the external environment but also the inner psychology of individuals. People start to think and behave in mechanistic ways.
The Illusion of the Technical: Standardization: Spengler highlights the illusion of technical progress as an indicator of genuine human development. He argues that while technology might appear to enhance human life, it often leads to standardization, eroding uniqueness and cultural diversity.
The Problem of Numbers: In this chapter, Spengler addresses the consequences of the rise of numerical thinking and quantitative approaches. He expresses concerns about the reduction of human experiences, emotions, and values to quantifiable measures.
The Metropolis: Spengler explores the transformation of societies from rural, agrarian communities to bustling metropolises. He examines how urbanization and industrialization impact the character of civilizations.
The Giant City: Building on the previous chapter, Spengler delves deeper into the dynamics of urbanization. He discusses the power structures, challenges, and psychological effects of life in large cities.
The Turn of the World: Spengler contemplates the cyclical nature of civilizations and their eventual decline. He suggests that technological advancement contributes to a civilization's downfall as it leads to a detachment from nature and a focus on materialism.
Economic Life: This chapter explores the interconnectedness of technology, economy, and society. Spengler discusses how economic systems evolve in response to technological changes.
Growth and Duration: Spengler reflects on the balance between growth and duration in civilizations. He argues that technological growth might accelerate a civilization's decline due to overextension and lack of sustainability.
The Law of the Line: In the final chapter, Spengler outlines his views on historical cycles and the rise and fall of civilizations. He posits that a civilization's trajectory follows a predictable pattern influenced by its relationship with technology.
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- JMPGKC
- 09-05-22
Slightly diluted desperation, slavery, racism, and rape on the spiritual level
This book makes me feel that a lot of the history of Western philosophy is a chorus of unusually sickly, bookish, marginalized, incels, who by the very virtue of being so desire unbridled material power at all costs. Why are so many of the right’s beloved philosophers guys chronically ill and chronically single atheists? And why do they so often position themselves not only as atheists, but effectively as Satanists, “Prometheists,” or “Faustians”; agents of Eternal rebellion for its own sake?
I foreknew he was chronically single as I read it, and that he would complain that his magnum opus was misunderstood in his day, because I think in every single time period these ideas would read as psychopathic and antisocial by healthy people.
I started this a long time ago and quit by the second chapter because I could predict the tenor of the whole book by then. But I was brought back because I’ve been reading the works of Jason Reza Jorjani, who is also unfortunately an alt-right-winger and crypto-racist in my estimation. But he is also a genuinely interesting thinker worth reading, despite the problematic undertones. I reread this book in a similar spirit of trying to dig deep into what such people are thinking, and Spengler structures a lot of Jorjani’s, and the alt-right’s philosophy.
I give this a 3 because although it is predictable, cringe, and potentially dangerous, I recommend it to anyone interested in mapping out this territory who does not yet wish to invest (possibly waste) months into The Decline of The West.
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