Nikolai Danilevski

Nikolai Danilevski was a Russian thinker known for his cyclical theory of history, which proposed that civilizations progress in cyclical patterns rather than linear ones. He believed that each civilization has a life cycle—birth, growth, decline, and death—similar to living organisms. Danilevski argued that cultural and spiritual factors, more than economic or political ones, drive these changes. His ideas contributed to debates about cultural uniqueness and influenced later thinkers on the nature of historical development, suggesting that civilizations are shaped by their distinct characteristics and experiences, cycling through periods of vitality and decay.