Prophets of the West;: An introduction to the philosophy of history

This book explores many subjects, with units focused on Augustine's City of God, Historicism, Rhythms of History, and The Ascent of History (evolution). FOREWORD, v PREFACE, ix PART ONE | THE METAMORPHOSES of AUGUSTINE’S CITY of GOD, 1 • Chapter One | THE CITY OF GOD AND THE CITY OF MAN: Augustine and Vico, 3 The City of God: Augustine, 4; The City of Man: Vico, 10 • Chapter Two | THE PHILOSOPHIES OF PROGRESS: Turgot to Herder, 21 Voltaire, 22; Turgot-Condorcet, 23; British Exponents of Progress, 27; Kant-Herder, 28 • Chapter Three | THE DIALECTIC OF HISTORY: Hegel and Marx, 38 The Dialectical Unfolding of Spirit: The Hegelian Synthesis, 39; The Real Dialectic of History: The Marxist Critique, 47 • Chapter Four | THE EVOLUTION OF HISTORY: Comte and Spencer, 64 The Evolution of Historical Humanity: The Comtean Synthesis 66; The Comprehensive Evolution: The Spencerian Critique, 73 • Summary, 85 PART TWO | HISTORICISM, COMPLETE and INCOMPLETE, 89 • Chapter Five | CRITICAL HISTORIANS AND PHILOSOPHERS: Ranke to Rickert, 91 Critical Historians 92; Critical Philosophers, 97 • Chapter Six | UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF HISTORY: Wilhelm Dilthey, 104 History and Understanding, 106; Meaning and History, 112 • Chapter Seven | PHILOSOPHY-HISTORY: Benedetto Croce, 123 The Idealistic Logic, 125; The New Historiography, 127; The Dialectic of Progress, 133 • Chapter Eight | CRITICAL PHILOSOPHY-HISTORY: Robin Collingwood, 138 The New Historicist Logic, 139; A Critical Philosophy of History, 142; Progress and History, 150 • Summary, 157 PART THREE | THE RHYTHMS of HISTORY, 163 • Chapter Nine | THE ORGANIC LOGIC OF HISTORY: Oswald Spengler, 165 Physiognomic and the World-as-History, 187; Cultures: Life Cycles and Prime Symbols, 170; The Fate of the West, 175 • Chapter Ten | THE WHEEL OF CIVILIZATIONS: Arnold Toynbee, 179 The Cycle of Civilizations, 181; Progress and Religion, 191 • Chapter Eleven | CONTENTS THE RHYTHM OF THE SUPERSYSTEMS: Pitirim Sorokin, 200 The Sociocultural World, 202; The Rythm of the Supersystems, 208; The Future of the West, 215 • Chapter Twelve | STYLES AND SUPERSTYLES: Alfred Kroeber, 220 The Autonomy of the Cultural Order, 222; Comparative Study of Civilizations, 224 • Summary, 235 PART FOUR | THE ASCENT of HISTORY, 243 • Chapter Thirteen | HUMANISTIC EVOLUTIONISM: Julian Huxley, 245 Progress and Evolution Revisited, 245; The Monistic Evolutionary Hypothesis, 249; Biological Evolution in Action, 251; Psychosocial Evolution, 254; The Religion of the Future, 257 • Chapter Fourteen | CHRISTIAN EVOLUTIONISM: Teilhard de Chardin, 263 Cosmogenesis and the Evolution of Matter, 264; Biogenesis and the Biosphere, 268; Noogenesis and the Noosphere, 271; The Future of Man 277; The Christian Phenomenon, 281 • Summary, 285 INDEX, 291 Part I. The Metamorphoses Of Augustine's City Of God. Ch. 1 The City Of God And The City Of Man:augustine And Vico -- The City Of God/ Augustine -- The City Of Man / Vico -- Ch. 2 The Philosophies Of Progress: Turgot To Herder -- Voltaire -- Turgot-condorcet -- British Exponents Of Progress -- Kant-herder -- Ch. 3 The Dialectic Of History: Hegel And Marx -- The Dialectical Unfolding Of Spirit: The Hegelian Synthesis -- The Real Dialectic Of History: The Marxist Critique -- Ch. 4 The Evolution Of History: Comte And Spencer -- The Evolution Of Historical Humanity: The Comtean Synthesis -- The Comprehensive Evolution: The Spencerian Critique -- Part Ii. Historicism, Complete And Incomplete. Ch. 5 Critical Historians And Philosophers: Ranke To Rickert -- Critical Historians -- Critical Philosophers -- Ch. 6 Understanding The Meaning Of History: Wilhelm Dilthey -- History And Understanding -- Meaning And History -- Ch. 7 Philosophy-history: Benedetto Croce -- The Idealistic Logic --^ The New Historiography -- The Dialectic Of Progress -- Ch. 8 Critical Philosophy-history: Robin Collingwood -- The New Historicist Logic -- A Critical Philosophy Of History -- Progress And History -- Part Iii. The Rhythms Of History. Ch. 9 The Organic Logic Of History: Oswald Spengler -- Physiognomic And The World-as-history -- Cultures: Life Cycles And Prime Symbols -- The Fate Of The West -- Ch. 10 The Wheel Of Civilization: Arnold Toynbee -- The Cycle Of Civilization -- Progress And Religion -- Ch. 11 The Rhythm Of The Supersystems: Pitirim Sorokin -- The Sociocultural World -- The Rhythm Of The Supersystems -- The Future Of The West -- Ch. 12 Styles And Superstyles: Alfred Kroeber -- The Autonomy Of The Cultural Order -- Comparative Study Of Civilizations -- Part Iv. The Ascent Of History. Ch. 13 Humanistic Evolutionism: Julian Huxley -- Progress And Evolution Revisited -- The Monistic Evolutionary Hypothesis -- Biological Evolution In Action -- Psychosocial Evolution --^ The Religion Of The Future -- Ch. 14 Christian Evolutionism: Teilhard De Chardin -- Cosmogenesis And The Evolution Of Matter -- Biogenesis And The Biosphere -- Noogenesis And The Noosphere -- The Future Of Man -- The Christian Phenomenon. Includes Bibliographical References.