The Fate of Empires

Being an Inquiry Into the Stability of Civilisation

Arthur John Hubbard

• Publisher: Left of Brain Books
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781396321450
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Join Arthur Hubbard on an immersive journey into the history of civilization. Written over a century ago, this book is still just as relevant today. Indeed, it was featured in a 2012 documentary titled "Four Horsemen" about civilization and economics.The book is relatively short and divided into two main parts. The first lays ground to the elements of the rise of civilization. It raises questions like the role of ethnic diversity in the rise or fall of society. Is there a perfect religion that would lead to the ultimate empire? Are instinct and reason alone enough for the survival of the individual and the society, or is there something else at play? And can there be an immortal civilization, or is humanity in an infinite loop of development and recession?The second part is a demonstration of the facts laid in the first one, chiefly through the examples of China and Rome. Why the Roman Empire collapsed, and how apparently bizarre Chinese traditions contributed to the thriving of their civilization. Hubbard builds up an element of suspense through interesting arguments and counter-arguments, giving the reader space to reflect for themselves before revealing his conclusion in the final chapter."The giant forms of empires on their way
to ruin: one by one,
They tower… and they are gone."

Table of contents

• PREFACE
• PART I THE BASIS OF A PERMANENT CIVILISATION
• CHAPTER I The Antecedents of Civilisation
• CHAPTER II The Method of Instinct
• CHAPTER III The Method of Reason
• CHAPTER IV Reason in Relation to Competition: the Interest of the Individual in Relation to Society
• CHAPTER V Reason in Relation to Reproduction: the Interest of the Individual in Relation to the Race.
• CHAPTER VI Relative Interest of Society and the Race Under the Method of Reason
• CHAPTER VII The Condemnation of the Method of Reason
• CHAPTER VIII The Method of Religious Motive
• CHAPTER IX The Relation of the Method of Religious Motive to the Social Stress: the Duty of the Individual with Regard to Society
• CHAPTER X The Relation of the Method of Religious Motive to the Racial Stress: the Duty of the Individual with Regard to the Race
• CHAPTER XI Mutual Relations of Society and the Race Under the Method of Religious Motive
• CHAPTER XII Justification of the Method of Religious Motive
• PART II HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRINCIPLES INDICATED IN THE PRECEDING CHAPTERS
• CHAPTER I Rome and China
• CHAPTER II Religion Under the Roman Empire
• CHAPTER III Society Under the Roman Empire
• CHAPTER IV The Family and the Race Under the Roman Empire
• CHAPTER V Greece
• CHAPTER VI Religion in China
• CHAPTER VII Society in China
• CHAPTER VIII The Family and the Race in China
• CHAPTER IX The Indispensable Basis of a Stable Civilisation