Bakı Dövlət Universiteti Sosial elmlər və psixologiya fakültəsi

A public lesson was held by the head teacher of the Philosophy Department of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Psychology of Baku State University (BSU) Nazakat Karimova on May 14, 2025. The open lesson on the topic of “Oswald Spengler's Concept of Social Development” was attended by the head of the Philosophy Department Kamala Panahova and the teachers of the department. Nazakat Karimova provided information about the life and work of Oswald Spengler, a German philosopher, cultural historian, publicist, and representative of the “Philosophy of Life” movement, and said that he witnessed the horrors of World War I and lived and created at a time when serious preparations were underway for World War II. She noted that the socio-political upheavals of the era had a serious impact on Spengler's philosophical views, as well as the theory he formulated regarding the development of cultures and civilizations.

1. Karimova noted that the war played a stimulating role in the wide readership of the two-volume work “The Sunset of Europe”, which brought the German philosopher world fame, and that the work was written in accordance with the tragic spirit of the era. She further noted that the main theme of Spengler's philosophical research was the morphology of world history: “He studied the uniqueness of world cultures, which he considered complete and unique organic forms. Spengler did not want to accept the generally accepted classification of historical periods - the Ancient World, the Middle Ages, the Modern Age - he considered all this to be extremely boring, incorrect, and a classification that raises more questions than answers. Spengler confidently declared that history does not consist of a simple linear sequence of events. There is no one history, one culture, but many histories, many cultures, and each culture has its own unique spirit. This spirit determines the politics, science, religion, art, and forms of socio-economic life of each culture.”
2. Karimova gave detailed information about O. Spengler's philosophical views on culture and civilization in the open lesson and said that according to Spengler, eight civilizations, each of which had a stage of rise and fall, had their own worldview, their own values, and their own unique character. In his opinion, all cultures are a unique expression of the human spirit. Spengler, who considered culture to be a living organism, described it as its own creation, growth, flourishing, and decline and death. According to the philosopher, if culture is described as a living organism, civilization constitutes its old age. When civilization arises, culture dies.
3. Karimova further stated that unlike conservatives who considered the Aryan race to be the highest race, German culture to be the highest culture, and European civilization to be the most superior, Spengler opposed this idea. “Spengler criticized the idea of ​​the universality of cultural progress, viewed each culture as an independent system, and put forward the idea of ​​the diversity of cultures. He believes that when all the creative possibilities of a culture are exhausted, when the fire of creativity goes out, it becomes a civilization. The philosopher characterizes civilization as the end of culture, its mechanical and stagnant period. The death of culture is the exhaustion of its spirit. When the meaning of culture no longer inspires people, when the interest in realizing cultural values ​​​​is directed towards utilitarian goals and improving life, the footsteps of the epoch of civilization are heard.”
4. Karimova also provided detailed information about the protosymbols of culture in Spengler's concept of social development, stating that, according to the philosopher, a protosymbol is a symbolic expression of the ideal that culture tries to embody in reality. The lecturer then provided information about the archetypes in Spengler's work: "According to Spengler, the archetype of Egyptian culture is the road. The Egyptian soul sees itself walking along a predetermined path of life for it. The life of an Egyptian is the determined gait of a wanderer moving in a direction determined once and for all. The road is a symbol of movement not only in space, but also in time. The archetype of ancient culture is a limited material body. For a Greek, only bodies that are visible and felt here are real. Empty, pure space without bodies is the same as nothingness, nothingness for him. The archetype of ancient culture determines the "Apollonian" artistic style that prevails in ancient Greek art. Therefore, Spengler calls the Greek soul, the soul of Greek culture - the Apollonian spirit.

According to Spengler, the soul of Arab culture is a magical spirit, and its original symbol is the world of the Cave. The closed inner world of the “Cave” seems full of secrets, which excites fantasy and mystical mood. The original symbol of Western culture is infinity, “pure” boundless space. The soul of this culture, born in the vast territories of Northern Europe, is directed towards the distance. The philosopher calls this soul the Faustian soul. The Faustian soul needs to go beyond the visible horizon, will, and freedom. Any boundaries limit it, it cannot stop at what has been achieved. Thus, the thirst for travel that grips Europeans, the search for new lands, new impressions, and new areas of application of forces, originates from here.

At the end of the open lesson, the questions that interested the students were answered.