Project Gutenberg 2025-04-25 Public domain in the USA. 195 Schweitzer, Albert 1875 1965 Campion, C. T. (Charles Thomas) 1861 1938 Campion, Charles Thomas Campion, Charles T. Verfall und wiederaufbau der kultur. English The decay and the restoration of civilization : $b The philosophy of civilization, part 1 $aLondon :$bA. & C. Black, Ltd., $c1923. Dale memorial lectures, 1922 [I] Actonian Press “The Decay and the Restoration of Civilization: The Philosophy of Civilization” by Albert Schweitzer is a philosophical treatise written in the early 20th century. The work examines the crisis facing modern society, arguing that civilization has become hollowed out by a neglect of ethical foundations and an overemphasis on material, historical, and technical progress. Schweitzer’s central concern appears to be how genuine civilization is fundamentally rooted in ethics, and he contends that only by re-establishing robust ethical principles can society restore meaning and hope to both individuals and nations. The opening of this treatise sets forth Schweitzer’s perspective that civilization is in deep crisis, not merely due to recent catastrophes like war, but because of a long-standing neglect of foundational ethical thinking. He critiques modern philosophy for abandoning its role as the guide to civilization's development, instead becoming scholastic, fragmented, and disconnected from pressing moral questions. Schweitzer traces how historical, economic, and organizational changes have diminished individual freedom, self-reflection, and humanity, leading to over-specialization, loss of independent moral judgment, and the subjugation of individual personality to mass opinion and institutional structures. He insists that true civilization demands personal ethics, genuine spirituality, and individual transformation, arguing that without these, progress in institutions and material domains is empty or even destructive. The first chapters lay the groundwork for his central thesis: civilization’s restoration hinges on a revival of thoughtful, ethical commitment at both the individual and collective levels. (This is an automatically generated summary.) https://archive.org/details/p1decayrestorati00schwuoft/page/n7/mode/2up 20250420094836schweitzer 1923 Reading ease score: 51.7 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en Civilization -- History CB Text Category: Philosophy & Ethics Category: Sociology 200052 2025-09-30T05:50:15.065743 text/html 174761 2025-04-25T19:02:49 text/html 146946 2025-09-30T05:50:18.103729 application/epub+zip 149680 2025-09-30T05:50:15.661717 application/epub+zip 132441 2025-09-30T05:50:15.343768 application/epub+zip 218986 2025-09-30T05:50:20.262682 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 192877 2025-09-30T05:50:17.822727 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 174023 2025-09-30T05:50:14.777719 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 154131 2025-04-25T19:02:49 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17082 2025-09-30T05:50:20.398685 application/rdf+xml 9453 2025-09-30T05:50:15.442711 image/jpeg 1920 2025-09-30T05:50:15.393695 image/jpeg 384239 2025-09-30T05:50:15.088714 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia de.wikipedia