Jacques Barzun

Darwin Marx Wagner: The Fatal Legacy of Progress [History of Ideas]

Boston: Little, Brown, & Company, 1941. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover with Dust Jacket.

Darwin Marx Wagner stands as a seminal work in intellectual history, offering a nuanced exploration of how ideas shape cultural trajectories and inviting readers to reflect on the complexities of progress and its unintended consequences in modern civilization.

The bindings are tight and square. Text is clean; light, even age-toning. Minimal shelf handling wear. Previous owner's name inside. The dust jacket is price-clipped, evenly age-toned with light corner and edge wear.  Now protected in a Mylar sleeve. 8.75 inches tall; 420 with an index of Names and Subjects.

Barzun argues that these influential thinkers, each in their domain, contributed to a problematic narrative of inevitable progress. Darwin's theory of natural selection, adapted to social theories by Marx, promoted an evolutionary view of human society advancing towards a predetermined goal. Wagner's romantic idealism added cultural depth to this narrative, embedding progress in artistic and philosophical realms.

However, Barzun critiques this notion of progress, highlighting its fatal consequences in both intellectual and societal domains. He explores how these ideas, intended to liberate human potential, often resulted in ideological dogmas and societal turmoil. Through meticulous scholarship and critical insight, Barzun challenges the reader to reconsider the assumptions underlying modernity's optimism about progress.

Subjects: Evolutionary Theory, Marxism, Romanticism, Cultural Critique, History of Ideas, Cultural Criticism, Intellectual History

Item #20504

Price: $50.00