| Vibrant cultures draw on the dynamism of innovation and creativity, but they decline through stagnation, forms of which we have been facing in recent years: deceleration of technological innovation, prospects of slowed economic growth, and a generalized cultural malaise or decadence. This seminar examines this problem and asks about antidotes, wether as progress, renaissance or disruption. 1 - OUR PRESENT DECADENCE: Leo Strauss, The City and Man, Introduction
p 1-12 Ross Douthat, The Decadent Society, entire 2 - DECLINE: Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West, abridged edition, selections
p 3-114; 176-225; 245-254; 360-415 3 - SCIENCE: Francis Bacon, New Atlantis, entire
p 63-111 Derek de Solla Prince, Science since Babylon, entire 4 - TECHNOLOGY: Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atom Bomb, selections
p 13-28; 104-197; 279-317; 443-485; 617-678 Film: The Right Stuff 5 - FEAR: Soencer Weart, The Rise of Nuclear Fear, entire René Girard, "Hamlet's Dull Revenge" from Theater of Envy
p 271-289 Film: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 6 - COUNTERCULTURE: Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, title essay
p 84-128 Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, entire Film: Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood 7 - STAGNATION I: JOURNALISTIC ACCOUNTS Christopher Caldwell, the Age of Entitlement,
p 3-279 Camile Paglia, Provocations, selections
p 465-480 8 - STAGNATION II: THEORETICAL AND NOVELISTIC ACCOUNTS Carl Schmitt, The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy, entire Michel Houllebecq, Submission, entire 9 THE CASE AGAINST GROWTH: Dietrich Vollrath, Fully Grown, entire Donella Meadows et al., The Limits to Growth, selections
p 45-155 10 WAYS OUT?: Ernst Juenger, The Forest Passage, entire Henry George, Progress and Poverty, entire - Anyone interested in discussing this books, I would love to meet you. DM me on Twitter: @PabloPeniche |