Man and Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life

2020 Reprint of the 1932 Edition. Man and Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life is a short book by Oswald Spengler, in which the author presents a harsh critique of technology and industrialism, especially in Western Society during Spengler’s era. The principal idea in the work is that many of the Western world’s great achievements may soon become spectacles for our descendants to marvel at, as we do with the pyramids of Egypt or the baths of Rome. In Spengler’s view, western culture will be destroyed from within by materialism, and destroyed by others through economic competition and warfare. Spengler’s views are very controversial and many of his conclusions might seem extreme to a modern reader. Nevertheless, he continues to be read to this day and remains an important, if extreme, critic of modern progress.