English Socialist (Christianity):

In the early 19th century the ideas of the French philosopher Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825) gained traction in the UK.  He expounded the idea of a “new Christianity” concerned with the poor.  “Christian Socialism” was coined by a group of British men (Frederick Maurice, novelist Charles Kingsley & JM Ludlow) following the failure of the Chartists in 1848; their movement aimed to vindicate for “the Kingdom of Christ” its “true authority over the realms of industry and trade” & apply the social principles of Christianity to modern industrial life.  It was critical of laissez-faire individualism & capitalism,  moved by the sufferings of the poor & dreadful factory conditions. Ludlow enlisted churchmen to promote Christian principles in industry.  They criticized socially conservative Christianity & laissez-faire attitudes urging that cooperation replace competition.  They joined the cooperatives movement & financed several small cooperative societies.  They created the Council for Promoting Working Men’s Associations & founded the Working Men’s College in London (1854).  Although this particular movement dissolved late 1850s numerous Christian Socialist organizations were formed in the 1880s and ’90s in England.

 

Roman Stoic (Emperor worship): * see EndNote<A>

As the Roman Empire advanced the Imperial cult gradually developed, it established the worship of the emperor as a god.  It began under Augustus & became a prominent element of Roman religion.  It spread over the whole Empire within a few decades, more strongly in the east than the west.  In the 3rd century AD promotion of the cult of the Sun, Sol Invictus, further increased the role of the divine emperor.  The solar cult, the unifying personality of the Emperor resonates with Roman Stoicism.  While it was Augustan, it is also expressed clearly in Stoic philosophy.

 

Buddhism (denial of atheism):

Buddhism has no creator god, but its different traditions embrace god or gods.  There are reference to “Asuras”, lowly deities, demi-gods, demons, titans, or anti-gods; recognised in Theravada tradition as part of the heavenly realm.  Also “Devas” including Brahmās, translated as gods, deities, angels, or heavenly beings.  The tantric tradition (based on the Tantras Buddhist sacred literature) borrowed deities and material from other Indian religious traditions.  In Tibetan Buddhism tradition, mandala are mystical maps for the visualisation process with cosmic symbolism.  There are numerous deities, each with a mandala, used during initiation ceremonies & meditation.  Visualizations with deities and mandalas is a tradition traceable to ancient times.

 

Freethinker: * see EndNote<B>

a person who forms their own ideas rather than accepting those of other people, about religious teaching; it  holds that beliefs should be based on logic, reason & empirical observation NOT authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma.  It appeared first in England, then France during the Enlightenment & was exported to Germany in the 19th century.

 

Socialist (belief in God):

see above Christian Socialism

 

Climacteric:

literally a period of decrease of reproductive capacity in men & women ( in women the menopause); for Spengler it refers to the shift from the end of the Culture period, to the start of the Civilization, from Summer to Fall, from fecundity to sterility.

 

“race-suicide”:

a term coined in 1900 by the sociologist Edward A. Ross (1866-1950), a progressive American academic who promoted eugenics; the theory posits that differential birth-rate between the "fit" and "unfit" would ultimately lead to the extinction of the fit.  In 1902, U.S. President T. Roosevelt called “race suicide " the critical challenge for the US; that voluntary childlessness was “criminal”.  The term is also associated with nordicism & the "Yellow Peril".  The latter term was used by Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888–1918) to represented Japan's victory over Russia in 1905, an Asian racial threat to white Western Europe.

 

Imperial Rome (childlessness):

The population of Italy in 14 AD is estimated (Beloch, 1866) to be 7 million, rising to 7.6 million in 164 AD.  Fertility studies suggest that half the Roman population practiced family limitation.  These families (based on studies of Roman Egypt) had a custom of extended breastfeeding, which may have lengthened birth spacing.  Roman & Greek literary & legal tradition make frequent references to infanticide and child exposure.  There were few religious, legal or economic constraints against such practices in Greece & Rome at the time.  High mortality rates and pre-modern sanitary conditions led to more local deaths than births; the population of urban regions (Rome & Italian cities) could only be sustained with constant immigration.

 

China (childlessness):

China, much like Rome, practised natural birth control.  It had lower levels of fertility than Rome.  This was achieved by a combination of prolonged breastfeeding, female infanticide, and male celibacy.

 

megalopolitan:

men of the Winter, denizens of the large urban conurbations

 

οί πολλοί:

Greek, meaning commons, hoi polloi, most people, peons, people in general, proletariat, riffraff

 

Egyptian New Empire:

aka New Kingdom, Egyptian history between the mid-16th and 11th century BC, covering the 18th, 19th & 20th dynasties; the winter period of Egyptian civilization

 

Buddhist India:

Buddhism expanded in India following the death of the Buddha (563-483 BC) particularly after receiving the endorsement & royal support of the Maurya Empire under Ashoka in the 3rd century BC.  The consolidation of monastic organisations made Buddhism the centre of religious & intellectual life in India.  This period saw urbanisation & the beginnings of centralised states.  Its expansion was closely linked to the growing economy & increased centralised political organisation capable of change.  The Kanva dynasty (75 to 30 BC), a successor state to the Maurya Empire was a Brahmin dynasty & had 4 Buddhist Kings.  From the sub-continent Buddhism spread beyond the India into Central Asia and China.  Spengler lists this period as the late winter of the Indian Civilization, the spread of a final world sentiment

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Confucian China:

Confucius (551–479 BC) was a transmitter of cultural values inherited from earlier dynasties (the Xia  2070–1600 BC; Shang 1600–1046 BC & Zhou dynasties 1046–256 BC);  although Confucianism was suppressed during the Legalist & autocratic Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) it survived & during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), it became the official ideology.  Spengler places the Han in the Civilization period, late stages (Winter)

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the Diatribe:

the art of persuasion (1 of the 3 Greco-Roman arts of discourse); aims to study the ability of writers or speakers to inform, persuade or motivate particular audiences in specific situations.  Aristotle defines it as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion".  It was necessary for victory in law; for passage of proposals in assembly; or for fame as a speaker; Aristotle calls it "a combination of the science of logic and of the ethical branch of politics".  It provides guides for understanding, discovering & developing arguments for particular situations, such as Aristotle's three appeals: to logic, to sorrow, to character.  First codified in Rome as the 5 canons (invention, arrangement, style, memory, delivery).

 

dialectical:

a discourse between 2 or more holding different points of view on a subject but aiming to establish the truth through reasoned methods of argumentation; resembles debate, but excludes subjective elements such as emotional appeal or rhetoric.

 

plebeian:

belonging to the common people; common, commonplace, vulgar; a member of the general citizenry in Rome as opposed to the privileged patrician class.