The Oswald Spengler Society
for the Study of Humanity and World History
Conference 2018:
100 Years after the Publication of "The Decline of the West":
Oswald Spengler in an Age of Globalisation
and
Award of the "Oswald Spengler Prize" to Michel Houellebecq
On 17-19 October 2018, the newly founded “Oswald Spengler Society” recently held a scholarly conference on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the publication of “The Decline of the West”, one of the most important –and notorious - works on the philosophy of history of the 20th century. The conference was followed by the first public award of the “Oswald Spengler Prize” to Michel Houellebecq.
The Awarding of the First Oswald Spengler Prize in the Media
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Michel Houellebecq: Wie man nicht ausstirbt, in: Die Welt 20.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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-: Michel Houellebecq von Spengler-Society ausgezeichnet, in: BRF 20.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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ts: Michel Houellebecq: Der Niedergang und die kommende christliche Erneuerung Europas, in: Bund Sankt Michael 20.10. 2018 (Click HERE)
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Axel Rüth: Gebärmütter als Hoffnung für das Abendland, in: Die Welt 21.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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Tano Gerke: Michel Houellebecq: Europa begeht besondere Form des Selbstmords, in: Tagesstimme 21.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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Carlos Xavier Blanco: La sociedad "Oswald Spengler" premia al escritor Michel Houellebecq, autor profético sobre la islamización de Francia, in: La tribuna del Pais Vasco 22.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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David Berger: Houellebecq: Den „Untergang des Abendlandes“ mit dem Katholizismus aufhalten, in: Philosophie Perennis 23.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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Sid Lukkassen: Houellebecq: Demography is Destiny, in: dorbraak.be 23.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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David Engels: Ein Mord findet statt, in: Tagespost 24.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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Michel Janva: Houellebecq: “Il vaudrait mieux que la religion catholique reprenne le dessus”, in: Le salon beige 25.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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Geoffrey Lejeune: Déambulation bruxelloise avec Michel Houellebecq, in: Valeurs Actuelles 25.10.2018, 16-20 (Click HERE)
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Dezsö Csejtei: Oswald Spengler kései Bosszúja, in: Magyar Idök 31.10.2018 (Click HERE)
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Marie-Cécile Royen: Le déclin selon Michel Houellebecq, in: Le Vif-L'Express 1.11.2018 (Click HERE)
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David Engels, The Spengler Society and Michel Houellebecq, in: European Conservative, 19.2.2019. For more information, click HERE.
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Michel Houellebecq : le suicide de l’Occident résultat de deux déclins, l’un démographique, l’autre religieux, in: Herodote.net, 20.3.2019. For more information, click HERE.
Conference programme:
17th-19th October 2018, German Eifel
(for abstracts, click HERE)
17 October
11h Latest Departure of the Shuttle Service from Brussels Airport
13h Latest Departure of the Shuttle Service from Cologne/Bonn Airport
14h Registration of the Participants at conference venue (German Eifel)
14h15 Welcome Address by the Board of the “Spengler Society”
Welcome Address by Ludger Kusenberg (download HERE)
Section 1: The Foundations of Spengler’s Thought
14h30 Hercules Boshoff, Becoming Unmoved: Aristotle, Spengler and the Development of Automation.
15h15 Marina Christodoulou, Man and Habits. A Contribution to the Addiction of/to Life (Inspired by Oswald Spengler)
16h Coffee Break
Section 2: The Relativity of Cultures
16h30 Dezső Csejtei, The Role of Landscape in Spengler’s „Untergang des Abendlandes“
17h15 Gerd Morgenthaler, Das Verhältnis des Rechts zum Weltbild seiner Urheber in Oswald Spenglers Thesen zur Rechtsgeschichte
18h Break
Keynote Speech
18h15 Alexander Demandt
19h Drinks
19h30 Dinner
18 October
Section 3: The Reception of ‘The Decline of the West’
8h45 Jack Dumonde, Between Pessimism and amor fati: the Changing Anglo-American Interpretations of Oswald Spengler’s Philosophy of History
9h30 Jasper Trautsch, Oswald Spengler and ‘the West’: The Changing Interpretations of his Work in the English-Speaking Press
10h15 Coffee Break
10h45 Sven Günther / Zhang Hongxia, Spengler’s China, China’s Spengler – Intellectual Discourses between East and West
11h30 Gregory Swer, Science Fiction: Science, Vaihinger and Spengler’s Fictionalist Philosophy of Science
12h15 Lunch Break
Section 4: On the Margins of Eurocentrism
14h Christian Roy, Space, Time and the Christian Matrix of the Faustian Man
14h45 David Engels, Spengler on India, Mexico and Babylonia
15h30 Coffee Break
16h Froll Vladimirow, Russland: „ein matter Nachzügler“ des Abendlandes oder „das Versprechen einer kommenden Kultur“?
16h45 Common Afternoon Activity
Evening Keynote Speech
18h15 Max Otte
19h Drinks
19h30 Dinner
19 October
Section 5: ‘Spengler heute’
8h45 Greg Lewicki, Spengler, Networks and an EU-like Roman Empire. Why We Are Entering a Neomedieval Era
9h30 Sid Lukkassen, Spengler’s Philosophy of History as a Therapy for Naivity and Utopianism
10h15 Coffee Break
10h45 Alena Rettóva, Philosophy, Colonialism, and “The Decline of the Occident”
11h30 Closing Remarks by the board of the Spengler Society
12h 15 Lunch Break
14h Travel to Brussels
17h Hotel Check-in
Awarding of the Oswald Spengler Price (Brussels)
18h Ceremony: Award of the first Oswald Spengler Prize
20h Dinner
20 October
10h Departure of the Shuttle to Brussels Airport and to Cologne Airport
First Award of the
Oswald Spengler Prize
19th October 2018
The “Oswald Spengler Society” is pleased to announce the first public award of the “Oswald Spengler Prize” to Michel Houellebecq.
Place of the Ceremony:
Hotel Stanhope, Rue du Commerce 9, 1000 Bruxelles
Provisional programme:
17h30: Arrival of participants
18h00: Welcome address and laudatio of the laureate by the board of the Oswald Spengler Society
18h30: Award of the first Oswald Spengler Prize to Michel Houellebecq
18h35: Address by the laureate
19h00: Drinks
20h00: End of the Ceremony
Participation in the ceremony is free; however, for pratical reasons, formal inscriptions would be most welcome (spengler.society@gmail.com).
