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The Fate of Empires: Being an Inquiry into the Stability of Civilization
Arthur John HUBBARD MD (1856-1935) was a British author, doctor, and world traveler who pursued an interest in the study of the rise and fall of world civilizations.
According to his own statement, Mr. Hubbard in his book "The Fate of Empires" is building on the foundation of Mr. Benjamin Kidd's “Social Evolution,” altho he treats the whole subject from a different point of view. “Is a permanent civilization possible?” is the initial inquiry. That depends on the forces which are operative in a society. But history takes account only of the results of these forces, since they can be discovered only when the whole of organic evolution is reviewed. In doing this, two forces are found to be operative—instinct and reason; the former operating in a race, tending toward propagation; the latter in society, tending toward competition with contemporaries. Instinct sacrifices the individual ruthlessly for the race, while society tries to subdue him to its own ends.
We have, consequently, an antagonism between the part and the whole in each case. How is it to be removed? Neither reason nor instinct is able to do so; since reason demands the abolition of competition, and that would land us in the bogs of socialism with its mediocrity and consequent death of society; while instinct sacrifices the individual to the race, and thus keeps development on a low plane. We must find, therefore, a new suprarational sanction in the religious motive. This motive raises propagation and competition to a higher level; since it makes the individual a member of a family which extends backward as well as forward and gives him thus an interest in the future of the race, it furnishes at the same time an interest in society, since the family can exist only under its sanction.
The individual will, consequently, continue to compete with his fellow men, but not to the extent of destroying society whose sanction is necessary for the family. In other words, the individual will be interested in the propagation of the race through his family bonds, and thus act as a free man, while competition will be regulated by law so as to vouchsafe to each man room for the development of his powers. This is, briefly, the reasoning of Mr. Hubbard.
In part two he tries to illustrate his principles in history, chiefly in Rome and China. The family under the older republic was agnatic, i.e., it took pride in descendants as well as ancestors, and Rome was strong as long as that interest continued. When in the later republic and the empire, the individual considered himself in opposition to the race, and adoption or childlessness took the place of propagation in many cases, Rome was doomed, because a ruthless competition for lust and pleasure wore out the individual or brought him in opposition to society, and the dissolution of the Roman state became only a question of time.
In China the family has always maintained its virility owing to religious sanction. The race is thus continued, but China has been unprogressive owing to the overemphasis of the family and its partial opposition to the State, which led to a neglect of science and of social duty in the larger sense. In other words, competition between families was not regulated by law. The perfect religious sanction will remove these shortcomings by raising the family and the individual to the higher level of a world-purpose, i.e., by showing us that we are intended for eternity rather than for a short life on earth.
According to his own statement, Mr. Hubbard in his book "The Fate of Empires" is building on the foundation of Mr. Benjamin Kidd's “Social Evolution,” altho he treats the whole subject from a different point of view. “Is a permanent civilization possible?” is the initial inquiry. That depends on the forces which are operative in a society. But history takes account only of the results of these forces, since they can be discovered only when the whole of organic evolution is reviewed. In doing this, two forces are found to be operative—instinct and reason; the former operating in a race, tending toward propagation; the latter in society, tending toward competition with contemporaries. Instinct sacrifices the individual ruthlessly for the race, while society tries to subdue him to its own ends.
We have, consequently, an antagonism between the part and the whole in each case. How is it to be removed? Neither reason nor instinct is able to do so; since reason demands the abolition of competition, and that would land us in the bogs of socialism with its mediocrity and consequent death of society; while instinct sacrifices the individual to the race, and thus keeps development on a low plane. We must find, therefore, a new suprarational sanction in the religious motive. This motive raises propagation and competition to a higher level; since it makes the individual a member of a family which extends backward as well as forward and gives him thus an interest in the future of the race, it furnishes at the same time an interest in society, since the family can exist only under its sanction.
The individual will, consequently, continue to compete with his fellow men, but not to the extent of destroying society whose sanction is necessary for the family. In other words, the individual will be interested in the propagation of the race through his family bonds, and thus act as a free man, while competition will be regulated by law so as to vouchsafe to each man room for the development of his powers. This is, briefly, the reasoning of Mr. Hubbard.
In part two he tries to illustrate his principles in history, chiefly in Rome and China. The family under the older republic was agnatic, i.e., it took pride in descendants as well as ancestors, and Rome was strong as long as that interest continued. When in the later republic and the empire, the individual considered himself in opposition to the race, and adoption or childlessness took the place of propagation in many cases, Rome was doomed, because a ruthless competition for lust and pleasure wore out the individual or brought him in opposition to society, and the dissolution of the Roman state became only a question of time.
In China the family has always maintained its virility owing to religious sanction. The race is thus continued, but China has been unprogressive owing to the overemphasis of the family and its partial opposition to the State, which led to a neglect of science and of social duty in the larger sense. In other words, competition between families was not regulated by law. The perfect religious sanction will remove these shortcomings by raising the family and the individual to the higher level of a world-purpose, i.e., by showing us that we are intended for eternity rather than for a short life on earth.
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76 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 20, 2015
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June 19, 2020
“The Fate of Empires: Being an Inquiry into the Stability of Civilization” by Arthur John Hubbard.
It is interesting to note that this book was published in 1913, one year before the beginning of the Great War. Ideas about humanity, race, religion, politics and society were to be revolutionized forever after the end of the first global conflict. The 20th century gave place to the weakening of the European theatre at the world stage and the consolidation of the American one; however, this transmission of hegemony from old world to new world was still within the boundaries of Western civilization. The United States is the natural offspring of centuries of European history, philosophy, religion and race, just as the Romans were descendants of Ancient Greece.
As the 20th century progressed, the indicators that Hubbard points out in the book (declining birthrates, depopulation, secularism, hedonism) became more apparent and coincided with the increasing prosperity and liberties gained in both Europe and North America. Today, these two regions are amongst the most developed in the world and enjoy some of the highest standards of living. One main question arises: Are these lifestyles sustainable?
At no point in history has humanity been so rich, healthy and successful, specifically in the Western world. Child mortality, extreme poverty, infectious diseases, and famines are at their lowest points ever recorded. Our advances on science and technology and the consolidation of the global economy have overall created a better world in every corner of the world. However, in these processes there are always winners and losers.
Certainly, the Western world has highly benefitted from this achieved prosperity but at a certain cost. As its standards of living increased, education levels went up and birth rates have fallen dramatically. It is ironic that many Westerners “fear” the demographic consequences of mass immigration when their greatest fear should be their voluntary extinction in the first place. Likewise, one of their main sacrifices was its religious identity. Since the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, the Western world has progressively pursued the way of reason and science in lieu of its centuries-old religious past. The erosion of religious influence from the political and societal arena began during the great revolutions (French Revolution and American Revolution) and concluded around the great wars of our time (WWI and WWII). Afterwards, the perpetuation of reason and progress would be our guiding light going into the future, religion lost its protagonist role for good in the Western world.
In 1913, Hubbard was aware of the changes that were taking place in the Western and non-Western world. He would be astonished to see the result of this process. Particularly, he would be surprised that the Western world is far better off than it was 100 years ago; however, the higher the rise, the harder the fall. He might conclude that these victories are only prolonging the inevitable: the fall of Western civilization. Hubbard might even be more surprised to know that the Chinese civilization, one that awed him, is on the rise and has global domination ambitions.
Hubbard argues that humans have two great stresses: competition and reproduction. At certain historical moments we pursue one more than the other, in others we try to integrate them. Both relate to our evolutionary traits of reflect, instinct, reason and religious motive (in that order). As humans left the cave, one of these more evolved traits subjugated the less evolved ones: instinct conquered reflex, reason tries to dominate instinct. Nonetheless, the eradication of less evolved traits is simply impossible and undesirable. While reason is aimed at societal aims such as increasing our standard of living, instinct is aimed at racial aims such as reproduction. In the middle lies the individual who must reconcile its racial and societal objectives. A triangle composed of the individual, race, and society is formed.
Reason compels the human to the fulfillment of individual and societal duties while sacrificing the stresses of parenthood. On the other hand, parenthood and reproduction are self-sacrifice actions aimed at the perpetuation of the human race. In this case, one might assume that reason is the higher value given that it is the most “recent” one and leads to better standards of living. However, just as instinct, its uncontrolled and unchecked dominion could lead to the debacle of civilizations. One of the main objectives of reason is to reduce the wastefulness of other human traits; for instance, reproduction and religion are deemed as mere obstacles in the pursuit of progress and must be relegated. Can a civilization be sustained purely by reason? According to Hubbard, it is not possible because civilizations cannot live by reason alone, stability is reached through the supranational. What is this supranational element? The religious motive.
The religious motive allows us to anchor our actions beyond our time, the significance of life is found in its relation to the infinite and the universe. According to Hubbard, the religious motive can be geocentric or cosmocentric. Their main difference is their relation to time; while the former focuses on the here and now (i.e. Stoic philosophy), the latter goes beyond the human conception of time (i.e. Christianity). The cosmocentric religious motive is better aimed at attaining our racial and societal objectives through self-sacrifice than the geocentric religious motive. “Geocentric actions seeks a permanent civilization as an end, but cannot attain it. Cosmocentric actions attains it, but does not seek it as an end.” Moreover, the cosmocentric religious motive possesses the power to retain the competition spirit demanded by individual/societal impulses and the reproductive need demanded by racial impulses. It works as mechanism that gives significance and a path to both.
Hubbard’s thesis is that enduring civilizations cannot live on instinct or reason alone, their permanence is attained by securing the preservation of race and restraining pure reason through cosmocentric religious motive and the solidity of family units. In this case, the author utilizes three civilizations to present his thesis: Rome, Greece, and China.
Gibbon wrote: “The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful”. In this sense, the religious motive in Rome was connected to the State but only for practical purposes, it was geocentric in nature. This practicality led to the dominion of reason over instinct and its consequences on birthrates and social norms. A childless and gratifying lifestyle was highly sought in Roman society in lieu of a lifestyle of family and self-sacrifice. “Pure reason had extirpated the great breed of the builders of Rome, and civilizations suffered an eclipse that lasted for a thousand years”.
Ancient Greece is a peculiar example given their high development of reason, the shortness of its duration, and the suddenness of its vanishment. The Greeks achieved one of the most influential but short-lived civilizations by focusing exclusively on reason and population control (birth control, eugenics). Eventually, this “great breed” died out.
China is the civilization that most intrigues Hubbard. A millenary nation united by its heritage and cosmocentric religious motive. Its endurance lies in the sustained racial preservation through a sense of religious duty. The chain of worship is through the patriarchal family unit that goes all the way back to the Creator to their more proximate ancestors. “And, if the chain thus extends backwards, so also must it reach forwards. The chain of worship must not be broken; it must never come to an end.” It is through the Tao (the path) that the Chinese civilization is in contact with the infinite, serves in self-sacrifice, and acquires cosmocentric significance. This focus on racial subsistence has been in detriment of the attainment of societal objectives but highlights notable traits such as the nobility of their individual character and their sense of cosmocentric duty.
As I finished this book, I kept thinking about how Hubbard would assess our current world. The Chinese civilization is still on the rise. The Western world appears to be “declining”. It appears that the obstacles faced by China according to Hubbard have for the most part disappeared. On the one hand, China’s societal and technological development during past decades has astounded the world; on the other, their racial potency due to its massive population was stalled by the one-child policy. Moreover, the arrival of the Communist regime led to the official eradication of the Chinese religious motive; however, many of its traits were preserved in the form of Taoist and Confucian values that still are highly influential in Chinese society.
Considering the above, is the current Western civilization condemned to vanish? What can we do to prevent or slow this process? Has Christianity reached the end of its useful life as a cosmocentric religious mechanism?
This thought-proving book leaves me with great lessons that I summarize with the following quotes:
“History is philosophy teaching by examples”- Thucydides
“In the long run, the world belongs to the unworldly; that in the end, empire is to those to whom empire is nothing”- Arthur John Hubbard
“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth”- Mathew 5:5
It is interesting to note that this book was published in 1913, one year before the beginning of the Great War. Ideas about humanity, race, religion, politics and society were to be revolutionized forever after the end of the first global conflict. The 20th century gave place to the weakening of the European theatre at the world stage and the consolidation of the American one; however, this transmission of hegemony from old world to new world was still within the boundaries of Western civilization. The United States is the natural offspring of centuries of European history, philosophy, religion and race, just as the Romans were descendants of Ancient Greece.
As the 20th century progressed, the indicators that Hubbard points out in the book (declining birthrates, depopulation, secularism, hedonism) became more apparent and coincided with the increasing prosperity and liberties gained in both Europe and North America. Today, these two regions are amongst the most developed in the world and enjoy some of the highest standards of living. One main question arises: Are these lifestyles sustainable?
At no point in history has humanity been so rich, healthy and successful, specifically in the Western world. Child mortality, extreme poverty, infectious diseases, and famines are at their lowest points ever recorded. Our advances on science and technology and the consolidation of the global economy have overall created a better world in every corner of the world. However, in these processes there are always winners and losers.
Certainly, the Western world has highly benefitted from this achieved prosperity but at a certain cost. As its standards of living increased, education levels went up and birth rates have fallen dramatically. It is ironic that many Westerners “fear” the demographic consequences of mass immigration when their greatest fear should be their voluntary extinction in the first place. Likewise, one of their main sacrifices was its religious identity. Since the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, the Western world has progressively pursued the way of reason and science in lieu of its centuries-old religious past. The erosion of religious influence from the political and societal arena began during the great revolutions (French Revolution and American Revolution) and concluded around the great wars of our time (WWI and WWII). Afterwards, the perpetuation of reason and progress would be our guiding light going into the future, religion lost its protagonist role for good in the Western world.
In 1913, Hubbard was aware of the changes that were taking place in the Western and non-Western world. He would be astonished to see the result of this process. Particularly, he would be surprised that the Western world is far better off than it was 100 years ago; however, the higher the rise, the harder the fall. He might conclude that these victories are only prolonging the inevitable: the fall of Western civilization. Hubbard might even be more surprised to know that the Chinese civilization, one that awed him, is on the rise and has global domination ambitions.
Hubbard argues that humans have two great stresses: competition and reproduction. At certain historical moments we pursue one more than the other, in others we try to integrate them. Both relate to our evolutionary traits of reflect, instinct, reason and religious motive (in that order). As humans left the cave, one of these more evolved traits subjugated the less evolved ones: instinct conquered reflex, reason tries to dominate instinct. Nonetheless, the eradication of less evolved traits is simply impossible and undesirable. While reason is aimed at societal aims such as increasing our standard of living, instinct is aimed at racial aims such as reproduction. In the middle lies the individual who must reconcile its racial and societal objectives. A triangle composed of the individual, race, and society is formed.
Reason compels the human to the fulfillment of individual and societal duties while sacrificing the stresses of parenthood. On the other hand, parenthood and reproduction are self-sacrifice actions aimed at the perpetuation of the human race. In this case, one might assume that reason is the higher value given that it is the most “recent” one and leads to better standards of living. However, just as instinct, its uncontrolled and unchecked dominion could lead to the debacle of civilizations. One of the main objectives of reason is to reduce the wastefulness of other human traits; for instance, reproduction and religion are deemed as mere obstacles in the pursuit of progress and must be relegated. Can a civilization be sustained purely by reason? According to Hubbard, it is not possible because civilizations cannot live by reason alone, stability is reached through the supranational. What is this supranational element? The religious motive.
The religious motive allows us to anchor our actions beyond our time, the significance of life is found in its relation to the infinite and the universe. According to Hubbard, the religious motive can be geocentric or cosmocentric. Their main difference is their relation to time; while the former focuses on the here and now (i.e. Stoic philosophy), the latter goes beyond the human conception of time (i.e. Christianity). The cosmocentric religious motive is better aimed at attaining our racial and societal objectives through self-sacrifice than the geocentric religious motive. “Geocentric actions seeks a permanent civilization as an end, but cannot attain it. Cosmocentric actions attains it, but does not seek it as an end.” Moreover, the cosmocentric religious motive possesses the power to retain the competition spirit demanded by individual/societal impulses and the reproductive need demanded by racial impulses. It works as mechanism that gives significance and a path to both.
Hubbard’s thesis is that enduring civilizations cannot live on instinct or reason alone, their permanence is attained by securing the preservation of race and restraining pure reason through cosmocentric religious motive and the solidity of family units. In this case, the author utilizes three civilizations to present his thesis: Rome, Greece, and China.
Gibbon wrote: “The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful”. In this sense, the religious motive in Rome was connected to the State but only for practical purposes, it was geocentric in nature. This practicality led to the dominion of reason over instinct and its consequences on birthrates and social norms. A childless and gratifying lifestyle was highly sought in Roman society in lieu of a lifestyle of family and self-sacrifice. “Pure reason had extirpated the great breed of the builders of Rome, and civilizations suffered an eclipse that lasted for a thousand years”.
Ancient Greece is a peculiar example given their high development of reason, the shortness of its duration, and the suddenness of its vanishment. The Greeks achieved one of the most influential but short-lived civilizations by focusing exclusively on reason and population control (birth control, eugenics). Eventually, this “great breed” died out.
China is the civilization that most intrigues Hubbard. A millenary nation united by its heritage and cosmocentric religious motive. Its endurance lies in the sustained racial preservation through a sense of religious duty. The chain of worship is through the patriarchal family unit that goes all the way back to the Creator to their more proximate ancestors. “And, if the chain thus extends backwards, so also must it reach forwards. The chain of worship must not be broken; it must never come to an end.” It is through the Tao (the path) that the Chinese civilization is in contact with the infinite, serves in self-sacrifice, and acquires cosmocentric significance. This focus on racial subsistence has been in detriment of the attainment of societal objectives but highlights notable traits such as the nobility of their individual character and their sense of cosmocentric duty.
As I finished this book, I kept thinking about how Hubbard would assess our current world. The Chinese civilization is still on the rise. The Western world appears to be “declining”. It appears that the obstacles faced by China according to Hubbard have for the most part disappeared. On the one hand, China’s societal and technological development during past decades has astounded the world; on the other, their racial potency due to its massive population was stalled by the one-child policy. Moreover, the arrival of the Communist regime led to the official eradication of the Chinese religious motive; however, many of its traits were preserved in the form of Taoist and Confucian values that still are highly influential in Chinese society.
Considering the above, is the current Western civilization condemned to vanish? What can we do to prevent or slow this process? Has Christianity reached the end of its useful life as a cosmocentric religious mechanism?
This thought-proving book leaves me with great lessons that I summarize with the following quotes:
“History is philosophy teaching by examples”- Thucydides
“In the long run, the world belongs to the unworldly; that in the end, empire is to those to whom empire is nothing”- Arthur John Hubbard
“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth”- Mathew 5:5
January 5, 2020
Very difficult to read and understand but the last few chapters on Rome and China were pretty interesting.
February 18, 2020
Great Read
It was a little tough getting through the first part of the book but the second half was worth the wait.
It was a little tough getting through the first part of the book but the second half was worth the wait.
February 11, 2025
Super interesting book.
You may or may not agree with Hubbard's ideais, but he does bring some quite interesting ideais on why 'empires' fall under its own weight through the conflicts between individual's short term interests and society's long term interest.
The provocative idea that religion is the 'invention' that aligns individual's interests to that of the society in general, even at the expenses of the individual.
You may or may not agree with Hubbard's ideais, but he does bring some quite interesting ideais on why 'empires' fall under its own weight through the conflicts between individual's short term interests and society's long term interest.
The provocative idea that religion is the 'invention' that aligns individual's interests to that of the society in general, even at the expenses of the individual.
April 28, 2025
I do not recommend. Very ethnocentric and reflective of the knowledge and viewpoints of the time, only to finish with a Bible quote and thus negating any non biased arguments he may have snuck into the book. Lots of unnecessary fluff made it difficult to understand the point of any particular paragraph. Don't waste your time. ugh.
April 22, 2023
Probably one of the most dense books I’ve ever read. It’s only like 125 pages but it felt like 400.
That being said, of what I could understand made sense. The problem is how unnecessarily verbose it is.
That being said, of what I could understand made sense. The problem is how unnecessarily verbose it is.
December 19, 2020
Some interesting remarks and facts although not very convincing as a thorough explanation of the faith of empires
January 10, 2018
Deeply weird book that touches on its purported subject matter while managing to not actually provide any answers. The entire first half of the book was a lengthy dissertation into Hubbard's belief that only by a cosmocentric worldview would provide the necessary conditions for liberty and morality for a human population. I do not disagree with that stance, but he then promptly manages to never discuss the most obvious example of it. In his view of the West, it's as if everything stopped with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and nothing past that needs to be covered. Maybe to the reading audience of 1913, this was self evident and did not need explaining, but to me reading a century later, comparing Rome in 50AD to Hong Kong circa 1900 was lacking. That said, his condensed history on exactly how stupidly decadent the Romans chose to be was profoundly interesting in light of modern movements of people. History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme and all of that.
The section on Rome was almost enough to knock this up four stars, but then he got to China. Long story short, the author had his panties in a twist regarding ancestor worship in China and was fetishizing the shit out of Chinese culture. Look, I'm not terribly sensitive on that point, so if I am cringing, it's bad. I don't care that he was writing a century ago and mores were different. It straight up read as a creepy dude who kind of fails at his own life and so was hoping some of that inscrutable Chinaman mojo would rub off on him. To the point that he argues that infanticide against female babies in China is totes not the same as infant exposure in ancient Rome. Meanwhile, I'm thinking to myself murder is murder, fifth commandment, wtf is wrong with this clown.
That said, interesting read as I definitely want to dig more into the terribleness that was the Roman Empire, and I was saddened that Hubbard chose to ignore the continued existence of the Byzantines as I guess they weren't civilized enough and lasted too long for his tastes (his theory on the West revolved around short lived before flaming collapse, so yeah...)
The section on Rome was almost enough to knock this up four stars, but then he got to China. Long story short, the author had his panties in a twist regarding ancestor worship in China and was fetishizing the shit out of Chinese culture. Look, I'm not terribly sensitive on that point, so if I am cringing, it's bad. I don't care that he was writing a century ago and mores were different. It straight up read as a creepy dude who kind of fails at his own life and so was hoping some of that inscrutable Chinaman mojo would rub off on him. To the point that he argues that infanticide against female babies in China is totes not the same as infant exposure in ancient Rome. Meanwhile, I'm thinking to myself murder is murder, fifth commandment, wtf is wrong with this clown.
That said, interesting read as I definitely want to dig more into the terribleness that was the Roman Empire, and I was saddened that Hubbard chose to ignore the continued existence of the Byzantines as I guess they weren't civilized enough and lasted too long for his tastes (his theory on the West revolved around short lived before flaming collapse, so yeah...)
September 23, 2025
An interesting proposal that human civilization is driven by competing biological, rational, and spiritual urges.
- The biological urge drives people to incessantly compete and reproduce in order to propagate the species. Yet this special urge does little good for the individual.
- The rational urge lets us view ourselves as smaller bodies (communities & societies) and individuals. Reason, being higher than instinct, allows us to accomplish more than instincts. It allows us to temper our biological urges and work against them in order to better serve ourselves and our communities. An example of this is using methods of contraception instead of (like animals) reproducing endlessly). The problem with reason, however, is that ultimately the recognition and liberation of self will allow individuals to pursue exclusively their own good. Discovering that the most effective way to promote comfort and prosperity in their own lives is consuming all the capital of future generations, the individual becomes hedonistic and sterile knowing they have nothing (biologically) to gain from doing otherwise. Therefore, the species (or hedonistic society) is doomed to die if left with reason alone.
- As a result, mankind needs a spiritual urge to concern people about their eternal future. If death is not the end, we can hope to gain something from sacrificing comforts in our own life. According to Hubbard, this is our only hope for producing stable and consistently flourishing civilizations. Without religion, nothing compels a sufficiently prosperous generation from squandering everything their society has build on themselves.
This is a good argument, but it's one wrapped in timid scientific language. It is essentially a theological entreaty, so it would have been a lot stronger if he had dropped the Darwinian dressings. Hubbard's clearly espoused faith is embarrassed by the fact that much of the "science" (then championed by Evolutionists of the day) he used as examples have since been debunked are now discredited. Still, it is a compelling case once the dross is stripped away.
- The biological urge drives people to incessantly compete and reproduce in order to propagate the species. Yet this special urge does little good for the individual.
- The rational urge lets us view ourselves as smaller bodies (communities & societies) and individuals. Reason, being higher than instinct, allows us to accomplish more than instincts. It allows us to temper our biological urges and work against them in order to better serve ourselves and our communities. An example of this is using methods of contraception instead of (like animals) reproducing endlessly). The problem with reason, however, is that ultimately the recognition and liberation of self will allow individuals to pursue exclusively their own good. Discovering that the most effective way to promote comfort and prosperity in their own lives is consuming all the capital of future generations, the individual becomes hedonistic and sterile knowing they have nothing (biologically) to gain from doing otherwise. Therefore, the species (or hedonistic society) is doomed to die if left with reason alone.
- As a result, mankind needs a spiritual urge to concern people about their eternal future. If death is not the end, we can hope to gain something from sacrificing comforts in our own life. According to Hubbard, this is our only hope for producing stable and consistently flourishing civilizations. Without religion, nothing compels a sufficiently prosperous generation from squandering everything their society has build on themselves.
This is a good argument, but it's one wrapped in timid scientific language. It is essentially a theological entreaty, so it would have been a lot stronger if he had dropped the Darwinian dressings. Hubbard's clearly espoused faith is embarrassed by the fact that much of the "science" (then championed by Evolutionists of the day) he used as examples have since been debunked are now discredited. Still, it is a compelling case once the dross is stripped away.
December 12, 2019
He’s a bit of a wacko and his writing style is challenging. I found the last few sections focused on the Greeks, Romans, and especially the Chinese to be fascinatingly insightful.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews