death_date death_place influenced birth_place influences image_size main_interests name birth_date image article_title birth_name region
8 may 1936 munich , bavaria , german reich theodor f. kennan henry kissinger h. p. lovecraft malcolm x henry adorno miller paul nitze j. ortega y gasset arnold j. toynbee northrop g. h. von wright ludwig wittgenstein f. p. yockey frye karl haushofer ernst jünger george blankenburg , duchy of brunswick , german reich leo friedrich nietzsche arthur schopenhauer johann joachim winckelmann frobenius johann wolfgang von goethe g.w.f. hegel heraclitus 180px philosophy of history oswald spengler 29 may 1880 bundesarchiv bild 183-r06610 , oswald spengler.jpg oswald spengler
 oswald arnold gottfried spengler western philosophy
oswald spengler

oswald arnold gottfried spengler -lrb- 29 may 1880 -- 8 may 1936 -rrb- was a german historian and philosopher of history whose interests included mathematics , science , and art .
he is best known for his book `` the decline of the west '' -lrb- `` der untergang des abendlandes '' -rrb- , published in 1918 and 1922 , covering all of world history .
spengler 's civilization model postulates that any civilization is a superorganism with a limited and predictible lifespan .
he wrote extensively throughout world war i and the interwar period , and supported german hegemony in europe .
his other writings made little impact outside germany .
in 1920 spengler produced `` prussiandom and socialism '' -lrb- `` preußentum und sozialismus '' -rrb- , which argued for an organic , nationalist brand of non-marxist socialism and authoritarianism .
some nazis , including joseph goebbels , saw spengler as an intellectual precursor , but he was ultimately ostracised by the nazis in 1933 for his pessimism about the future of germany and europe , his refusal to support nazi ideas of racial superiority , and his critical work `` the hour of decision '' .
