fuckuyama smdbcskjdvbsidvj, Thesis of Civil Law

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As the tumultuous twentieth century shudders toward its close - with the collapse

of commu nism leading to a transformation of world politics - Francis Fukuyama

asks us to return with him to a question that has been asked by

the great philosophers of centuries past: is there a direction to the history of

mankind? And if it is directional, to what end is it moving? And where are we now

in relation to that "end of history"?

In this exciting and profound inquiry, which goes far beyond the issues raised in his

world

famous essay "The End of History?" in the summer 1989 National Interest, Fukuyama

presents evidence to suggest that there are two powerful forces at work in human

history. He calls one "the logic of modem science" and the other "the struggle for

recognition:' The first drives men to fulfill an ever-expanding horizon of desires

through a rational economic process; the second, "the struggle for recognition:' is,

in Fukuyama 's (and Hegel's) view, nothing less than the very "motor of history'.'

It is Fukuyama's brilliantly argued theme that , over time , the economic logic of

modem science together with the "struggle for recogni tion" lead to the eventual

collapse of tyrannies, as we have witnessed on both the left and right. These

forces drive even culturally disparate societies toward establishing capitalist liberal

democracies as the end state of the historical process. The great question then

becomes: can liberty and equality, both political and eco nomic - the state of affairs

at the presumed "end of history" - produce a stable society in which man may be

said to be , at last , com pletely satisfied? Or will the spiritual condition of this "last

man" in history, deprived of outlets for his striving for mastery, inevitably lead him to

plunge himself and the world back into the

chaos and bloodshed of history?

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Praise for Francis Fukuyama's

The End OfHistory and the Last Man

"Bold, lucid, scandalously brilliant. Until now the triumph of the West was merely a fact. Fukuyama has given it a deep and highly original meaning:• -Charles Krautham mer

"With one now-famous essay, Frank Fukuyama did what had hitherto seemed almost impossible: he made Washington think. His subject was, and in this far more sweeping book is, the place of America, and the American idea, in the stream of history. His conclusion is at once exhilarating and sobering. We have won the struggle for the heart of humanity. However, that will not necessarily be good for humanity's soul. Fukuyama is in, and is worthy of, a grand tradition. He takes up where de Tocqueville left off, wondering whether liberal democratic culture raises humanity only from its barbarism to banality, and whether banality breeds instability, atavism and other old sorrows of historY:' -George F Will

"Fukuyama provides a fascinating historical and philosophical setting for the twenty-first century. His discussion of the idea of thymos may prove to be even more important than his theory of the end of history:' -Tom Wolfe

"A bold and brilliant work. Very, very impressive:' -Irving Kristol

"Fukuyama tells us where we were, where we are, and most important, speculates about where we will likely be-with clarity and an astonishing sweep of reflection and imag ination. His command of political philosophy and political facts takes us beyond the daily newspapers to a grasp of the meaning of our situation:' -Allan Bloom

"For me, [Fukuyama's thought] is an attempt to arm Western political thought with new fundamental theoretical arguments to reinforce its practical actions. Moreover, it is not an unsuccessful attempt.... " -Eduard Shevardnadze