For I am convinced that it is not merely a question of writing one out of several possible and merely logically justifiable philosophies, but of writing _the_ philosophy of our time, one that is to some extent a natural philosophy and is dimly presaged by all. This may be said without presumption; for an idea that is historically essential—that does not occur within an epoch but itself makes that epoch—is only in a limited sense the property of him to whose lot it falls to parent it. It belongs to our time as a whole and influences all thinkers, without their knowing it; it is but the accidental, private attitude towards it (without which no philosophy can exist) that—with its faults and its merits—is the destiny and the happiness of the individual. OSWALD SPENGLER. _Munich, December, 1917._ CONTENTS OF VOLUME I TRANSLATOR’S NOTE ix AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION xiii AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION xv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 Scope of the work, p. 3. Morphology of World-History, a new philosophy, p. 5. For whom is History? p. 8. Classical and Indian mankind ahistorical, p. 9. The Egyptian mummy and the burning of the dead, p. 13. The conventional scheme of World-History (ancient, mediæval, modern), p. 15. Its origin, p. 18. Its breakdown, p. 22. Europe not a centre of gravity, p. 23. The only historical method is Goethe’s, p. 25. Ourselves and the Romans, p. 26. Nietzsche and Mommsen, p. 28. The problem of Civilization, p. 31. Imperialism the last phase, p. 36. The necessity and range of our basic idea, p. 39. Its relation to present-day philosophy, p. 41. Philosophy’s last task, p. 45. The origin of this work, p. 46. CHAPTER II. THE MEANING OF NUMBERS 51 Fundamental notions, p. 53. Numbers as the sign of delimitation, p. 56. Every Culture has its own Mathematic, p. 59. Number as magnitude in the Classical world, p. 64. Aristarchus, p. 68. Diophantus and Arabian number, p. 71. Number as Function in the Western Culture, p. 74. World-fear and world-longing, p. 78. Geometry and arithmetic, p. 81. The Limit idea, p. 86. Visual limits transcended; symbolical space worlds, p. 86. Final possibilities, p. 87. CHAPTER III. THE PROBLEM OF WORLD-HISTORY. (1) PHYSIOGNOMIC AND SYSTEMATIC 91 Copernican methods, p. 93. History and Nature, p. 94. Form and Law, p. 97. Physiognomic and Systematic, p. 100. Cultures as organisms, p. 104. Inner form, tempo, duration, p. 108. Homology, p. 111. What is meant by “contemporary,” p. 112.