The many dramatic events of the current fin de siecle - especially the fall of communism - raise anew some perennial questions concerning modernity and civilization. Are we living at the height of civilization or just through a latter day barbarism? Are modernists and postmodernists more barbaric than ever? And if so, how might this be resolved? The author examines a variety of approaches to questions of barbarism and civilization. He draws on Veblen's argument that barbarism is rooted in cultural habits that persist despite modernity. Upon this basis, an attack is launched against...