Western Self-Contempt: Oikophobia in the Decline of Civilizations

by Benedict Beckeld

Overview

Western Self-Contempt travels through civilizations since antiquity, examining major political events and the literature of ancient Greece, Rome, France, Britain, and the United States, to study evidence of cultural self-hatred and its cyclical recurrence. Benedict Beckeld explores oikophobia, described by its coiner Sir Roger Scruton as "the felt need to denigrate the customs, culture and institutions that are identifiably 'ours,'" in its political and philosophical applications. Beckeld analyzes the theories behind oikophobia along with their historical sources, revealing why oikophobia is best described as a cultural malaise that befalls civilizations during their declining days.

Beckeld gives a framework for why today's society is so fragmented and self-critical. He demonstrates that oikophobia is the antithesis of xenophobia. By this definition, the riots and civil unrest in the summer of 2020 were an expression of oikophobia. Excessive political correctness that attacks tradition and history is an expression of oikophobia. Beckeld argues that if we are to understand these behaviors and attitudes, we must understand oikophobia as a sociohistorical phenomenon.

Western Self-Contempt is a systematic analysis of oikophobia, combining political philosophy and history to examine how Western civilizations and cultures evolve from naïve and self-promoting beginnings to states of self-loathing and decline. Concluding with a philosophical portrait of an increasingly interconnected Western civilization, Beckeld reveals how past events and ideologies, both in the US and in Europe, have led to a modern culture of self-questioning and self-rejection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501763182
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2022
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	423,151
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Benedict Beckeld holds a PhD in Philosophy and Classical Philology from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He is the author of Die Notwendigkeit der Notwendigkeit, Art and Aesthetics, and Statements. Follow him on X @BenedictBeckeld.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Oikophobia in Ancient Greece
2. Oikophobia as Relativism
3. Oikophobia in Rome
4. The Role of Religion
5. Oikophobia in France
6. Oikophobia in Britain
7. Oikophobia as Positivism
8. Oikophobia in the United States: The Past
9. Cyclical and Progressive Theory
10. Oikophobia in the United States: The Present
11. The Confluence of the West
Epilogue: On Personal Freedom

What People are Saying About This

Victor Davis Hanson

A timely, astute, and now much-needed historical, social-economic, and psychological analysis of why Western societies are not just self-critical, but ultimately can become self-loathing. From the Greeks' warnings that with material progress comes moral regress to the contemporary French postmodernists' perversions of language, Benedict Beckeld both warns and shows us that hating what made you free, secure, and prosperous is not merely decadent but also suicidal.

Sir Roger Scruton

A convincing and clearly written survey of a phenomenon that we all need to understand if we are to face the future with any confidence.

Victor Davis Hanson

A timely, astute, and now much-needed historical, social-economic, and psychological analysis of why Western societies are not just self-critical, but ultimately can become self-loathing. From the Greeks' warnings that with material progress comes moral regress to the contemporary French postmodernists' perversions of language, Benedict Beckeld both warns and shows us that hating what made you free, secure, and prosperous is not merely decadent but also suicidal.

Editorial Reviews

Western Self-Contempt is an encouraging book. Its historical overview of each civilization's rise and fall and its chapters on relativism, positivism, and cyclical and progressive theory have philosophical depth. Interspersed throughout the argument are pithy aphorisms about the contemporary political scene that are a delightful bonus and inspiring alternative to the dismal orthodoxies of the present day.

National Association of Scholars

Western Self-Contempt discusses big picture ideas that often get lost in the abundance of detail one discovers when embarking on a study of the modern cultural revolution. Philosopher Benedict Beckeld examines a curious pattern seen throughout history where prosperous states, at the height of their success, become overwhelmed with self-contempt rooted in a belief that the prosperity and material abundance they enjoy, is merely a result of historical injustice.

Woke Watch Canada

Western Self-Contempt is a seminal study that will have a special appeal to students of European political philosophy and cultural anthropology. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, Western Self-Contempt is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Political Theory & Philosophy collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

The Midwest Book Review

Western Self-Contempt gets to the heart of perhaps the most salient cultural and political phenomenon among Western elites in the last half century.

The American Mind

Beckeld dares to write what intelligent Americans think.

Chronicles Magazine

Benedict Beckeld refreshingly explains the phenomenon of oikophobia; his thoughts on Western self-hate are illuminating.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Western Self-Contempt is extremely important and timely, has amazing historical detail, and demonstrates an astonishing knowledge of the history of civilizations.

Peter Boghossian

By tracing the idea of intellectuals' self-contempt back to the beginning of Western civilisation, Beckeld shows how the phenomenon recurs cyclically: from ancient Greece and the Roman Empire to early modern France and England, up to today's United States in its role as world hegemon. Beckeld's analysis of oikophobia - and tragic view of history - enables a new foundation on which we can formulate what the intellectual's responsibility is.

The Critic Magazine