The Meaning of the “End of the World”

A Milestone Documents E-text

Table of Contents

https://doi.org/10.3735/9781961844636.book-part-072

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Abstract

People’s fascination with doomsday prophesies goes back to ancient history, but recent centuries, arguably, have seen a surge in end-of-the-world predictions, many of which propose relatively realistic scenarios—given the destructive potential of modern weaponry. Besides the obvious and popular meaning of the “end of the world” as a sudden disaster of cosmic magnitude, many have argued that the “end” in question points rather to the envisioned consummation of a long progressive movement, the highest point on the developmental scale and one that will crown the efforts of all previous generations by bringing about a state of ultimate perfection, beyond which no further advancement is possible or desirable.