Der Mensch und die Technik

Der Mensch und die Technik (English: Man and Technology) is a book written by Oswald Spengler in 1931.^[1] The book was a response by Spengler to dispel confusion by readers of his previous book The Decline of the West who believed he was hostile to technology.^[2] Der Mensch und die Technik along with other works of Spengler held influence in fascism.^[3]

In the book Spengler condemns idealist and materialist conceptions of technology as present in liberalism and Marxism that ignore cultural and spiritual conceptions of technology.^[4] Spengler describes technology as connected with the struggle of life, saying: "Technology is the tactic of the whole of life, the inner form of the methods of struggle".^[5] He denounces materialism Utilizing the ideas of Charles Darwin, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Spengler describes a permanent element of technology that is "the will to power – cruel, pitiless, merciless struggle."^[6] Technology is described as means of heroic emancipation of the human species from natural limits, with tools and weapons expanding human freedom from nature.^[7]

Spengler describes the presence of a natural dichotomy between a ruling minority elite and an obeying majority.^[8] He claims that humans are naturally subordinated to authoritarian organization as well as naturally "enslaved" to culture.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jeffrey Herf. Reactionary modernism: technology, culture, and politics in Weimar and the Third Reich. Digital printing edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. 64.
2. ^ Jeffrey Herf. Reactionary modernism: technology, culture, and politics in Weimar and the Third Reich. Digital printing edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. 64.
3. ^ Cyprian Blamires, Paul Jackson. World fascism: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1. Santa Barbara, California, USA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2006. Pp. 628.
4. ^ Jeffrey Herf. Reactionary modernism: technology, culture, and politics in Weimar and the Third Reich. Digital printing edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. 64.
5. ^ Jeffrey Herf. Reactionary modernism: technology, culture, and politics in Weimar and the Third Reich. Digital printing edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. 65.
6. ^ Jeffrey Herf. Reactionary modernism: technology, culture, and politics in Weimar and the Third Reich. Digital printing edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. 65.
7. ^ Jeffrey Herf. Reactionary modernism: technology, culture, and politics in Weimar and the Third Reich. Digital printing edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. 65.
8. ^ Jeffrey Herf. Reactionary modernism: technology, culture, and politics in Weimar and the Third Reich. Digital printing edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. 65-66.
9. ^ Jeffrey Herf. Reactionary modernism: technology, culture, and politics in Weimar and the Third Reich. Digital printing edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. 66.