Civilizational studies[edit]

Ibn Khaldun: wrote in his magnum opus, Muqaddimah, about the rise and fall of
dynasties and the formation of sedentary civilization. He takes an empirical and
religious approach to history and sociology, and focuses mostly on the Islamic
world. Considered by some to be the 'father of sociology'.[19] Influenced Arnold J.
Toynbee.

Giambattista Vico: Vico wrote Scienza Nuova positing a three-stage rise and
decline pattern which pertains to every nation's historical path. He was the
pioneer ofethnology as a discipline of study.

Nikolai Danilevsky: a conservative Russian ethnologist, Danilevsky pioneered

the use of biological and morphological metaphors in the comparison of
cultures.

Konstantin Leontiev: a conservative Russian social and political thinker. He

proposed, in 1875, that civilizations mirror natural organisms in experiencing
growth and flowering followed by decline and death. According to Leontiev, the
former period is marked by increasing diversity while the latter by progressive
simplification. Leontiev, like Spengler later, felt that the West had moved into
the latter phase.

Arnold J. Toynbee: Toynbee wrote a similar comparative study of the rise and
decline of civilizations, A Study of History, somewhat concurrently with
Spengler, which was released much later, around the conclusion of World War
II.

Alexander Zelitchenko: a Russian psychologist, philosopher, theologian and

historian in his Svet Zhizni (Light of Life) continues elaboration of Spengler's
theory from the point of view of developmental psychology correcting some
minor errors and shows how changing one other cultures develop human
psyche creating new patterns of mental activity.

Fernand Braudel: Braudel wrote a comparative history of civilizations during

the Cold War in his A History of Civilizations.

Samuel Huntington: Professor Huntington wrote The Clash of Civilizations and

the Remaking of World Order, a comparative look at civilizations in the postCold War order of international relations. His work has been likened to
Spengler's.

Neagu Djuvara: a Romanian historian who wrote Civilisations et lois historique.

Essai d'tude compare des civilisations (Civilizations and Historical Laws.
Essay of Comparative Studies on Civilizations), Mouton, 1975.

Jeremy Griffith: an Australian biologist who has developed a theory comparable

to Spengler's in which the growth of civilisations are analyzed in terms of the
human life span of youthful vigour and aged fatigue. Perhaps differences arise
in how much context the author can muster within brevity; however Griffith has
grounded such ideas in contemporary evolutionary theory making his work an
important gloss on or complement to Spengler's thesis.

Carroll Quigley: An American historian who developed an analytical framework

on civilizational studies in the work: The Evolution of Civilizations: An
Introduction to Historical Analysis.