Oswald Spengler's Prime Symbols Quiz

Answer: Infinite Space (Faustian)

'The Decline of the West' is undoubtedly a challenging read but it is, in my view, worth the effort. The book's author, Oswald Spengler, sets out a morphological approach to history, an idea that civilisations (and their precursor cultures) have a lifetime and that the particulars of each stage of life for each civilisation can be mapped across the traditions. So far, not all that controversial. Where his work starts to become intriguing is in his assertion that a linear conceptualisation of history is peculiar.

I will undoubtedly fail to capture the depth of what he means by this here but as a starting point it is perhaps useful to note that Spengler was highly critical of the Western historical tradition of separating history into "Ancient", "Medieval" and "Modern" eras that sit neatly on a linear timeline (he goes further in his assertion that a civilisation's conceptualisation of time is unique to that civilisation). Instead, Spengler asserts that civilisations exist according to their own timelines: they are born, they mature, they decline and then they die. There is, in his view, a disjoint - rather than a continuity - between the end of the Roman Empire (part of the Apollonian or Classical civilisation) and the rise of Western civilisation. In short, time is cyclical not linear.

Put another way, every civilisation will experience the same stages of life - in much the same way as animals and plants - but that those stages are perceived and addressed differently by each civilisation according to relevant animating forces and the symbols (chief amongst them being the Ur-symbol) that have the power to unify its people. The rejection of an uninterrupted, linear view of time poses problems for liberalism (especially more recent strands of progressivism), a philosophy that underpins the Western civilisation. If time is not strictly linear, then we are not destined to constantly improve, grow and progress; quite the contrary, eventually a civilisation exhausts itself and inevitably declines. Spengler would be critical of any thought system that assumes the perfectibility of man.

It would be fair to say that this book is not history in the conventional sense; Spengler is not all that concerned with a detailed exploration of facts (you will not see many dates, for example) and he eschews the practice of compiling lengthy bibliographies, footnotes and references (reflecting his disdain for, or at least indifference toward, academics).

After a lengthy though engaging introduction, Oswald Spengler curiously chooses mathematics as the first topic to look at in depth. An idea I find really compelling (I am drawn to the unorthodox) is that mathematics is cultural. Applying his morphological approach, mathematics does not accumulate over time through linear, iterative improvement. Instead, Spengler's view is that each high culture (a phase that occurs when symbols remain a potent and creative force) is destined to develop a form of mathematics that is intuitive and aligns with its Ur-symbol (prime symbol).

In the case of the Western civilisation, Spengler posits that its prime symbol is "infinite space". What better example of being animated by "infinite space" is there than the development of the Cartesian coordinate system? Even from a young age, we are primed to deal with the infinite when we are taught to draw a set of axes ("x" on the horizontal and "y" on the vertical). Whilst our sketches are finite, they represent the infinite and anything that exists within that "infinite space" becomes something for us to interact with; there can be nothing outside of it. Spengler compares this with geometry as practiced by the Ancient Greeks - there were no infinite axes in 'Elements' by Euclid and the Classical civilisation was by and large deeply suspicious of the infinite, instead revering the bounded, corporeal form.

Answer: Infinite Space (Faustian)

Spengler was greatly influenced by the German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who is perhaps best known in the English-speaking world for his two-part drama, 'Faust'. Faust - a learned man who seeks "unbound", transcendent knowledge - makes a deal with Mephistopheles (the "Faustian pact"), ultimately leading to tragedy. It is from Goethe's work that Spengler introduces the term Faustian to describe Western civilisation, linking together 'Faust', the infinite and the deepest desire of the Western peoples.

Spengler writes at length on the topic of architecture in 'The Decline of the West'; whereas mathematics is an abstract reflection of a culture or civilisation's prime symbol, architecture is tangible and manifest. For the Western civilisation - which Spengler tentatively suggests commences around AD 1000 in the west and north of Europe - the Gothic cathedral stands as a physical monument to "infinite space". In contrast to Greek and Roman temples with their human sense of proportion, the Gothic cathedral reaches for the heavens, attempting to escape the Earthly, material plane.

Answer: Infinite Space (Faustian)

In 'The Downfall of the West', Spengler chimes in with his view on the oft-debated philosophical distinction between "becoming" and "become". In his view, "becoming" is associated with vitality and he states that this creative "becoming" takes place during the culture, and especially high culture, period in a civilisation's lifetime. This is the time when major advances are made in all aspects of life whether it be mathematics, architecture, art, music or any number of other creative endeavours.

Once a culture becomes too aware of its own symbol, it starts to be deconstructed and creativity diminishes. Culture begins to wane and civilisation proper begins to rise, bringing with it order, rigidity, ossification and excessive rationalism. What was "becoming", has "become". Spengler goes on to say that at this stage of maturity, the Ur-symbol is now no longer capable of inspiring sufficient greatness and that a civilisation will drain the symbol of all life in order for that civilisation to survive for as long as possible. Spengler would point to modern or contemporaneous art as an example of this.

During the high culture phase of the Western civilisation, one of the great achievements according to 'The Downfall of the West' is the vanishing point, a conceptual and creative leap that transformed art through the introduction of the "infinite space" Ur-symbol. In a painting, lines converge at the vanishing point in the seemingly infinite distance to create depth and perspective, an extremely clever device for introducing an additional dimension to a work of art. In Spengler's view this is another example of the Faustian desire of the Western peoples to overcome limitations.

Answer: Infinite Space (Faustian)

In mathematics, not only has Western civilisation been inspired to explore the infinite but it has also been moved to develop entire frameworks based on the concept of the infinitesimal (broadly speaking, the infinitely small). It was of no surprise to the author of 'The Downfall of the West' that it was Western civilisation - through Newton and Leibniz - that developed the field of calculus. Calculus provides methods for assessing changes in a function when subject to very (very) small changes in the value of an input.

Another area where the enculturation of the "infinite" into Western civilisation can be witnessed is particle physics. The language applied to the pursuit of discovering ever smaller subatomic particles becomes quasi-religious, with one such particle, the Higgs boson, being controversially labelled the "God particle".

Answer: Cavern (Magian)

Whereas the Western civilisation is stated in 'The Decline of the West' to be animated by "infinite space", the prime symbol for the Magian civilisation is "the cavern" or "the world as a cavern". In Spengler's work, the Magian civilisation has its origins in the Near East and Middle East around 2000 years ago.

One of Spengler's more controversial moves is to group Judaism, early Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism (as well as Gnostic traditions) into this "Magian" classification. He does this not to state that these religions are the same but rather as a reflection that, in his view, the emergence of these religions is not coincidental - they all arise from the shared prime symbol of "the cavern". There is the essence of perennialism in Spengler's work.

In sharp contrast to the Western civilisation looking outward into the infinite (no surprise that space travel is a preoccupation of the Western peoples), the Magian civilisation looks inward, peering into the enclosed and sacred. Spengler points to the domed mosque (as well as basilicas) as one of the clearest manifestations of this tendency. The domed mosque - with minimal windows - recreates the Magian experience of life on Earth witnessing the interaction of (and conflict between) light and dark, under the heavens. "The world as a cavern" conceptualisation can also be linked to the usage of the word "firmament" in Genesis 1:6-8 (KJV and others).

Answer: Cavern (Magian)

Oswald Spengler posits that each high culture possesses its own soul and that soul is made manifest in many ways, including through mathematics. The Western soul - in pursuit of the infinite - can be seen to be expressed through the likes of calculus, infinite planes, imaginary numbers and set theory; it is, however, algebra and the manipulation of "undefined magnitudes" that is the mathematical expression of the Magian soul. Algebra uses abstract symbols (x, y, alpha or whatever you fancy) to represent "unknown" quantities and Spengler connects this to the Magian spirit that accepts the magical (to varying degrees) and assumes that matter has "hidden" properties.

The Magian soul, with its reverence for the cavern, also inspired alchemy and the practice of transmuting substances, later leading to the field of chemistry.

Answer: Cavern (Magian)

Whilst Spengler's position is that each high culture is animated by its own unique prime symbol, he does recognise in 'The Decline of the West' that civilisations - that often overlap - will influence each other. He calls this "pseudomorphosis". One of the main topics he discusses in relation to pseudomorphosis is Christianity, which spans the Magian, Classical and Western civilisations. He posits that whilst the religion has moved across civilisations, it manifests differently for each, in line with the relevant prime symbol. For Spengler, it is important for the recipient culture to overcome each cultural import and express its own symbol.

For Spengler, religious or holy texts - mainly but not exclusively the Bible and Quran - are an expression of the "world-cavern" symbol of the Magian civilisation and reflect the importance of dualism (light and dark, good and evil, spirit and material) to its people. In the Western civilisation - particularly after Francis Bacon formalised the scientific method in 'Novum Organum' (1620) - nature is to be interrogated in order to be understood whereas for the Magian civilisation, knowledge is achieved through revelation, The Word (Logos) and scripture. This is another example of what Spengler calls "pseudomorphosis" as Logos is a Classical concept that influenced Magian culture.

Answer: Cavern (Magian)

Celebrating the human body was a part of everyday life in the Classical civilisation of Greece and Rome. The Magian soul, however, has an inherent aversion to the corporeal according to Spengler in 'The Decline of the West'. In the Classical world, nude statues were commonplace but in the Near East and Middle East during the high culture phase of the Magian civilisation - Islamic traditions, in particular - such a statue would be out of place.

The Magian preference, artistically speaking, would be for abstract, non-corporeal forms such as the arabesque which consists of repeating, geometric patterns - often floral - that adorn surfaces such as walls and floors (bringing ambiguity to the interior structure of the cavern). Also typical of the Magian civilisation is the gold mosaic upon which the endless struggle between light and dark plays out.

Answer: Physical Body (Classical)

Spengler avers that the perception of the cosmos for the peoples of the Classical or Apollonian civilisation of Greece, and later Rome, was significantly influenced by the prime symbol of "the bounded, present [physical] body". In 'The Decline of the West', Spengler - in the best of German traditions - uses a compound word to describe the Classical understanding of time: "here-now".

Spengler essentially characterises the Classical world as almost ahistorical; it did not particularly concern itself with matters of the past (or indeed the future), preferring instead the pure present, the "here-now". The past gets sent to the gods and becomes the ever present. The civilisation is also characterised by the physical and the finite (limits are important). These symbolic forces all come together in sculpture, an art form that the Apollonian civilisation excelled at (especially statues of the nude human form).

As would be the case for any thinker who attempts to construct an overarching explanation of all history, Spengler often gets criticised for being overly reductive and refutations can be readily constructed to test the validity of each prime symbol in practice. For me, however, the beauty of 'The Decline of the West' is to be found in its intuitions and patterns rather than its rational and concrete elements.

Answer: Physical Body (Classical)

One of Oswald Spengler's most interesting comparisons in 'The Decline of the West' is that between the Gothic pillar and the Doric column. The Gothic pillar is an expression of the deep-rooted need of the Western civilisation to expand into "infinite space" whereas for the Classical civilisation, with its (unconscious) reverence for the proximal and tangible, the Doric column does not seek to draw the eye far into the distance. The Doric column is instead a representation of the "present body" and has a sense of both proportion and place.

Furthermore, Spengler alludes to the Doric column possessing architectural honesty in that it does not hide its burden (to uphold a structure such as a temple). This can be likened to the gods who, despite their status and perfect form, have a role to play and a function to fulfil.

Answer: Physical Body (Classical)

Euclidean geometry relies upon ratios, proportion, magnitude and bounded forms (triangles, circles and Platonic solids). Euclidean geometry, says Spengler, is a manifestation of the Classical Ur-symbol of the "bounded, present [physical] body" and it is arguably one of the strongest ideas from his exposition on the Classical civilisation.

It is, for example, striking that when a "plane" is being defined in the opening book of 'Elements' by Euclid, that infinity is not explicitly referenced nor is the infinite really implied. Similarly when reference is made to the extension of a straight line, there is a reticence to state that the extension could be infinite (whereas that idea would be quickly made explicit in modern mathematics). The possible extension always feels "bounded" in Euclidean geometry.

Answer: Physical Body (Classical)

Spengler uses the prime symbol of "the bounded, present [physical] body" to explain the size and shape of Classical settlements. Given the propensity to favour the "present" and the "nearby" in Ancient Greece (and to a lesser extent in the more culturally ossified and imperial Rome), the polis would take a concentrated and "bounded" form, in contrast to the sprawling, seemingly "infinite" megalopolises of modernity.