Arnold J. Toynbee

Se også økonomihistorikeren Arnold Toynbee.

Arnold Joseph Toynbee (født 14. april 1889 i London, død 22. oktober 1975 i York i Yorkshire) var en britisk historiker som skrev en 12 binds analyse av sivilisasjonenes vekst og fall, A Study of History (1934–1961). Verket var en syntese av verdenshistorien, en metahistorie basert på teorien om at sivilisasjonene gjennomgikk en vekst-, blomstrings- og forfallsperiode, hvor han undersøkte historien fra et globalt perspektiv.

Liv og virke

Bakgrunn 
Hans far var Harry Valpy Toynbee (1861–1941), sekretær til Charity Organization Society, og hans hustru Sarah Edith Marshall (1859–1939). Hans søster Jocelyn Toynbee ble arkeolog og kunsthistoriker. Faren Harry var en bror av økonomen og økonomihistorikeren Arnold Toynbee. 

Toynbee studerte historie i Winchester, i Heidelberg og ved Balliol College i Oxford.

Karriere 
Han arbeidet under både første verdenskrig og andre verdenskrig for det britiske utenriksdepartementet som rådgiver for War Propaganda Bureau, og forfattet selv propagandapamfletter mot Sentralmaktene.

Etter første verdenskrig deltok han i 1919 under fredskonferansen i Versailles. Rett etter overtok han den nyopprettede lærestol Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature ved King’s College London. Fra 1921 til 1922 var han korrespondent for Manchester-avisen Guardian under den gresk-tyrkiske krig (1919-1922), en erfaring som skildres i hans bok The Western Question in Greece and Turkey. Etter strid fikk han i 1924 lærestolen for internasjonal historie ved London School of Economics and Political Science. Fra 1925 til 1956 var han dessuten direktør for Royal Institute of International Affairs.

Det er som historiker han er blitt berømt. A Study of History minner om Oswald Spenglers historiesyn, men skiller seg fra dennes deterministiske betraktningsmåte og pessimisme. Toynbee var videre en stor beundrer av Ibn Khaldun. Til forskjell fra andre historikere, som viet seg til nasjonalstaters eller etniske gruppers historie, studerte Toynbee sivilisasjoner, som han definerte ut fra kulturelle kriterier. Vesten holdt han adskilt fra «de ortodokse sivilisasjoner» (Russland, Balkan) og også fra den gresk-romerske antikke sivilisasjon. Sivilisasjoner, mente Toynbee, oppstod som respons på utfordringer, der en minoritet tilbød en gruppe en løsning på utfordringens problem. Slike utfordringer kunne være fysiske eller sosiale. Om sivilisasjonen mestret problemet, vokste den, og om den mislyktes, forfalt den, mente Toynbee, og påstod: Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder. Sammenlagt identifiserte han 30 sivilisasjoner, levende og forsvunne. Han gjennomgikk også de ulike rasers påståtte fortrinn. «Den svarte rase er den eneste som ikke har bidratt positivt til noen kultur - ennå da.» 

Senere ble Toynbee kritisert for sin teori. I mye skilte hans teorier seg fra samtidens, ettersom han ikke forklarte sivilisasjoners tilkomst ut fra rasistiske grunner, og heller ikke marxistisk som en klassekamp. Han ble oppfattet mer som en metafysiker enn en historiker, så for eksempel av Pieter Geyl.

Toynbees verker 
 The Armenian Atrocities: The Murder of a Nation, with a speech delivered by Lord Bryce in the House of Lords (Hodder & Stoughton 1915)
 Nationality and the War (Dent 1915)
 The New Europe: Some Essays in Reconstruction, with an Introduction by the Earl of Cromer (Dent 1915)
 Contributor, Greece, in The Balkans: A History of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Rumania, Turkey, various authors (Oxford, Clarendon Press 1915)
 British View of the Ukrainian Question (Ukrainian Federation of U.S.A., New York, 1916)
 Editor, The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915–1916: Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon by Viscount Bryce, with a Preface by Viscount Bryce (Hodder & Stoughton and His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1916)
 The Destruction of Poland: A Study in German Efficiency (1916)
 The Belgian Deportations, with a statement by Viscount Bryce (T. Fisher Unwin 1917)
 The German Terror in Belgium: An Historical Record (Hodder & Stoughton 1917)
 The German Terror in France: An Historical Record (Hodder & Stoughton 1917)
 Turkey: A Past and a Future (Hodder & Stoughton 1917)
 The Western Question in Greece and Turkey: A Study in the Contact of Civilizations (Constable 1922)
 Introduction and translations, Greek Civilization and Character: The Self-Revelation of Ancient Greek Society (Dent 1924)
 Introduction and translations, Greek Historical Thought from Homer to the Age of Heraclius, with two pieces newly translated by Gilbert Murray (Dent 1924)
 Contributor, The Non-Arab Territories of the Ottoman Empire since the Armistice of the 30 October 1918, in H. W. V. Temperley (editor), A History of the Peace Conference of Paris, Vol. VI (Oxford University Press under the auspices of the British Institute of International Affairs 1924)
 The World after the Peace Conference, Being an Epilogue to the “History of the Peace Conference of Paris” and a Prologue to the “Survey of International Affairs, 1920–1923” (Oxford University Press under the auspices of the British Institute of International Affairs 1925). Published on its own, but Toynbee writes that it was "originally written as an introduction to the Survey of International Affairs in 1920–1923, and was intended for publication as part of the same volume".
 With Kenneth P. Kirkwood, Turkey (Benn 1926, in Modern Nations series edited by H. A. L. Fisher)
 The Conduct of British Empire Foreign Relations since the Peace Settlement (Oxford University Press under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs 1928)
 A Journey to China, or Things Which Are Seen (Constable 1931)
 Editor, British Commonwealth Relations, Proceedings of the First Unofficial Conference at Toronto, 11–21 September 1933, with a foreword by Robert L. Borden (Oxford University Press under the joint auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the Canadian Institute of International Affairs 1934)
 A Study of History
 Vol I: Introduction; The Geneses of Civilizations
 Vol II: The Geneses of Civilizations
 Vol III: The Growths of Civilizations
(Oxford University Press 1934)
 Editor, with J. A. K. Thomson, Essays in Honour of Gilbert Murray (George Allen & Unwin 1936)
 A Study of History
 Vol IV: The Breakdowns of Civilizations
 Vol V: The Disintegrations of Civilizations
 Vol VI: The Disintegrations of Civilizations
(Oxford University Press 1939)
 D. C. Somervell, A Study of History: Abridgement of Vols I-VI, with a preface by Toynbee (Oxford University Press 1946)
 Civilization on Trial (Oxford University Press 1948)
 The Prospects of Western Civilization (New York, Columbia University Press 1949). Lectures delivered at Columbia University on themes from a then-unpublished part of A Study of History. Published "by arrangement with Oxford University Press in an edition limited to 400 copies and not to be reissued".
 Albert Vann Fowler (editor), War and Civilization, Selections from A Study of History, with a preface by Toynbee (New York, Oxford University Press 1950)
 Introduction and translations, Twelve Men of Action in Greco-Roman History (Boston, Beacon Press 1952). Extracts from Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch and Polybius.
 The World and the West (Oxford University Press 1953). Reith Lectures for 1952.
 A Study of History
 Vol VII: Universal States; Universal Churches
 Vol VIII: Heroic Ages; Contacts between Civilizations in Space
 Vol IX: Contacts between Civilizations in Time; Law and Freedom in History; The Prospects of the Western Civilization
 Vol X: The Inspirations of Historians; A Note on Chronology
(Oxford University Press 1954)
 An Historian's Approach to Religion (Oxford University Press 1956). Gifford Lectures, University of Edinburgh, 1952–1953.
 D. C. Somervell, A Study of History: Abridgement of Vols VII-X, with a preface by Toynbee (Oxford University Press 1957)
 Christianity among the Religions of the World (New York, Scribner 1957; London, Oxford University Press 1958). Hewett Lectures, delivered in 1956.
 Democracy in the Atomic Age (Melbourne, Oxford University Press under the auspices of the Australian Institute of International Affairs 1957). Dyason Lectures, delivered in 1956.
 East to West: A Journey round the World (Oxford University Press 1958)
 Hellenism: The History of a Civilization (Oxford University Press 1959, in Home University Library)
 With Edward D. Myers, A Study of History
 Vol XI: Historical Atlas and Gazetteer
(Oxford University Press 1959)
 D. C. Somervell, A Study of History: Abridgement of Vols I-X in one volume, with a new preface by Toynbee and new tables (Oxford University Press 1960)
 A Study of History
 Vol XII: Reconsiderations
(Oxford University Press 1961)
 Between Oxus and Jumna (Oxford University Press 1961)
 America and the World Revolution (Oxford University Press 1962). Public lectures delivered at the University of Pennsylvania, spring 1961.
 The Economy of the Western Hemisphere (Oxford University Press 1962). Weatherhead Foundation Lectures delivered at the University of Puerto Rico, February 1962.
 The Present-Day Experiment in Western Civilization (Oxford University Press 1962). Beatty Memorial Lectures delivered at McGill University, Montreal, 1961.
The three sets of lectures published separately in the UK in 1962 appeared in New York in the same year in one volume under the title America and the World Revolution and Other Lectures, Oxford University Press.
 Universal States (New York, Oxford University Press 1963). Separate publication of part of Vol VII of A Study of History.
 With Philip Toynbee, Comparing Notes: A Dialogue across a Generation (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1963). "Conversations between Arnold Toynbee and his son, Philip … as they were recorded on tape."
 Between Niger and Nile (Oxford University Press 1965)
 Hannibal's Legacy: The Hannibalic War's Effects on Roman Life
 Vol I: Rome and Her Neighbours before Hannibal's Entry
 Vol II: Rome and Her Neighbours after Hannibal's Exit
(Oxford University Press 1965)
 Change and Habit: The Challenge of Our Time (Oxford University Press 1966). Partly based on lectures given at University of Denver in the last quarter of 1964, and at New College, Sarasota, Florida and the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee in the first quarter of 1965.
 Acquaintances (Oxford University Press 1967)
 Between Maule and Amazon (Oxford University Press 1967)
 Editor, Cities of Destiny (Thames & Hudson 1967)
 Editor and principal contributor, Man's Concern with Death (Hodder & Stoughton 1968)
 Editor, The Crucible of Christianity: Judaism, Hellenism and the Historical Background to the Christian Faith (Thames & Hudson 1969)
 Experiences (Oxford University Press 1969)
 Some Problems of Greek History (Oxford University Press 1969)
 Cities on the Move (Oxford University Press 1970). Sponsored by the Institute of Urban Environment of the School of Architecture, Columbia University.
 Surviving the Future (Oxford University Press 1971). Rewritten version of a dialogue between Toynbee and Professor Kei Wakaizumi of Kyoto Sangyo University: essays preceded by questions by Wakaizumi.
 With Jane Caplan, A Study of History, new one-volume abridgement, with new material and revisions and, for the first time, illustrations (Thames & Hudson 1972)
 Constantine Porphyrogenitus and His World (Oxford University Press	1973)
 Editor, Half the World: The History and Culture of China and Japan (Thames & Hudson 1973)
 Toynbee on Toynbee: A Conversation between Arnold J. Toynbee and G. R. Urban (New York, Oxford University Press 1974)
 Mankind and Mother Earth: A Narrative History of the World (Oxford University Press 1976), posthumous
 Richard L. Gage (editor), The Toynbee-Ikeda Dialogue: Man Himself Must Choose (Oxford University Press 1976), posthumous. The record of a conversation lasting several days.
 E. W. F. Tomlin (editor), Arnold Toynbee: A Selection from His Works, with an introduction by Tomlin (Oxford University Press 1978), posthumous. Includes advance extracts from The Greeks and Their Heritages.
 The Greeks and Their Heritages (Oxford University Press 1981), posthumous
 Christian B. Peper (editor), An Historian's Conscience: The Correspondence of Arnold J. Toynbee and Columba Cary-Elwes, Monk of Ampleforth, with a foreword by Lawrence L. Toynbee (Oxford University Press by arrangement with Beacon Press, Boston 1987), posthumous
 The Survey of International Affairs was published by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs between 1925 and 1977 and covered the years 1920–1963. Toynbee wrote, with assistants, the Pre-War Series (covering the years 1920–1938) and the War-Time Series (1938–1946), and contributed introductions to the first two volumes of the Post-War Series (1947–1948 and 1949–1950). His actual contributions varied in extent from year to year.
 A complementary series, Documents on International Affairs, covering the years 1928–1963, was published by Oxford University Press between 1929 and 1973. Toynbee supervised the compilation of the first of the 1939–1946 volumes, and wrote a preface for both that and the 1947–1948 volume.

Referanser

Litteratur 
 Arnold Joseph Toynbee i Store norske leksikon

Britiske historikere
Personer fra London