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