Arnold Joseph Toynbee, Civilization Options

[Campbell]

Arnold J Toynbee, (b1889 - d1975), English historian, the nephew of social reformer Arnold Toynbee. Educated at Winchester and Balliol College Oxford, he served in the Foreign Office during WWI and attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

Toynbee became Proffessor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History at King's College, London (1919 - 1924) and research professor at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (1925 - 1955).

A prolific scholar, Toynbee achieved his greatest fame for his monumental work, "A Study of History" (12 vol., 1934 - 1961), which appeared in an abridgment by D. C. Sommervell. In the Study of History, an investigation into the growth, development and decay of civilizations, the problems of history are considered in terms of cultural groups rather than nationalities. The main thesis of the work is that the well being of a civilization depends upon its ability to respond successfully to challenges, human and enciromental. Of the 26 civilizations studied , according to Toynbee, only one - Western Latin Christendom - is currently alive, and perhaps even in decline. He has been critizied for his arbitary generalizations, factual errors, and overemphasizing the regenerative force of religon. - (encyclopedia.com)

Toynbee's influences include Oswald Spengler, although Toynbee saw his own views as more scientific and empirical than Spengler's.
His views have not perhaps proved of great influence on other historians. They were definitely taken up, for example by Curtius, as a sort of paradigm in the post war period. The ideas he promoted had some vogue (he appeared on the cover of "Time" magazine in 1947). Toynbee was proably most influential in relation to Asian thinkers. A few of his terms, such as 'successor state', and to a lesser extent 'external proleteriat', are found in many authors works.
Similar to the present day theory of a "Clash of Civilizations" by Samuel Huntington. It is also quite odd (in an eerie way too) that both Huntington and Toynbee had some influence on foreign policy, and policy makers as well. - (wikipedia)

It is assumed that Arnold J is the Toynbee refered to on the Toynbee tiles. His ideas also feature in the Ray Bradbury short story "The Toynbee Convector". He also had great influence upon another Sci - Fi author, Isaac Asimov.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_J._Toynbee

http://www.encyclopedia.com

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk

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