The End of History and The Last Man

THE END OF HISTORY AND THE LAST MAN
-FRANCIS FUKUYAMA
BOOK REVIEW
At the end of the IInd world war, the world got split up into two different states spearheaded
by two entirely different ideologies i.e. Capitalism and Socialism. The tension between the
two ideologies resulted into a cold war situation between the western world and the eastern
world. Political analysts gave a thought over the turn of events and one amongst them was
Francis Fukuyama. He first presented his ideology in a paper named ‘The End of History?’ in
1989 and later in 1992, when this essay received heavy criticism, he chose to expand and
explain his concept in the form of a book. According to Fukuyama, liberal democracy can be
the end point of Historical (with a capital H) evolution. He defied all the other forms of
governments and finally came to a point where he established liberal democracy as the end of
history.
Fukuyama carries the reader into the discussion of the finish of History. With the help of
Hegel and Marx, Fukuyama establishes the importance of end of History. History, with a
capital H, alludes to the altogether advancement of humankind regarding its ‘Socio-political
Evolution.’ He clarifies that by end of history, he does not means that it would be an end of
political events, rather it means the end of political and economical thought. He says that the
search for best political system will come to a halt eventually. He expresses that, Hegel and
Marx accept that the advancement of human social orders would end at the point when
humankind had accomplished a type of society that fulfilled their specific ideologies and as
per Fukuyama, this type of accomplished society can be achieved only by liberal democracy
and capitalism. He argues that Liberal democracy and capitalism is the best model of a
successful political or social system and after achieving it, a state is finally at the stage of no
further socio-political evolution.
In this book, Fukuyama further answers that why a capitalist liberal democracy is regarded as
the best form of governance for a country after the Cold War era. As per the book, a capitalist
liberal democracy has the ultimate potential of fulfilling the basic desires of human nature
and because of such simplistic view-point, it becomes the most sort out method for a society.
There exist two basic desires within any human being; the first one being the economic or
materialistic desire and the second one being the desire for recognition by the ones around us.
Economic desires refer to the accumulation of wealth whereas the desire for recognition gives
a holistic meaning to an individual’s life. Recognition of one’s dignity by others becomes a
very important aspect in a human being’s life. As an answer to the quest of the
abovementioned desires, a capitalist liberal democracy can be viewed as the best possible
solution.
As the name suggests, economic desires can be fulfilled by a society with capitalistic
fundamentals. On the same hand, the need for recognition can only be fulfilled by a liberal
democracy. The wide spectrum of Liberal democracy covers the entire range of homo-sapien
species and it has something to offer to everyone.
Additionally, Fukuyama borrows Plato’s idea of 'Thymos’ to elaborate on the concept of

‘desire for recognition.’ As per Plato, Thymos can be known as the specific desire for identity
that clarifies the drive towards certain activities. There exist two forms of thymos, i.e.
Megalothymia and Isothymia. Individuals with megalothymic tendencies are motivated to
adopt unique techniques with the ultimate desire to dominate. It gives them a sense of
superiority over the rest. On the other hand, isothymic individuals, stress on the concept of
‘Equality.’ It can be defined as the tendency to be recognized in the form of equality rather
than superiority. The former can be characterized as people with Master mentality while the
latter can be rightly addressed as Slave Mentality and ‘History is the struggle between these
two thymotic passions.’ The master –slave conflict is the motor of historical and political
evolution of a state and the end of this conflict is basically the end of history.
Liberal democracy talks about individual freedom and political equality. It values individual
democracy and dignity thus establishing liberal democracy as the best form of political
thought for the isothymics. Fukuyama does not neglects the megalothymic individuals either.
He argues that megalothymics can completely sustain and fulfil their economic desires in a
liberal democracy. Thus, it successfully provides a conducive environment for the
simultaneous growth of both, the materialistic wealth seeking megalothymic human beings
and recognition seeking isothymic human beings. explains the working of megalothymics.
Lib dem gives an outlet to the megas.
In the end, Fukuyama posits a question that whether it is good or bad for the history to end.
Fukuyama rightly pints out that the conflict between megalothymia abd isothymia is a the
motor of history and with the end of either argument, the functionality of a liberal democracy
may come to an end. He says that it isn’t necessary that the outcome of liberal democracy os
a positive one because it can give birth to the ‘last man.’ While borrowing the concept of ‘last
man’ from Friedrich Nietzsche, Fukuyama defines the last man as a person who prefers and
pursues equality over excellence. Such people are satisfied with the bare minimum and he
does not seeks any further desire. The most thoughtful part about the last man theory is the
danger that it possesses towards evolution. Fukuyama says that equality should be pursued
only up till the ambit of politics because beyond that it poses a threat to cultural evolution of
mankind.
With reference to the ongoing quarter of the 21 st century, it is no doubt that almost all major
economies of the world are heavily tilted towards obtaining a democracy, either on paper or
in action. And why not? This becomes the ultimate question for anti- democratic regimes. As
rightly mentioned by Fukuyama, a liberal democracy has space for each and every category
of homo sapien. It entertains and caters to every person’s political interests, furthermore it
creates space or a platform even for the ones who are deprived of the same; intersectional
feminism being the biggest example of such inclusivity. Also, capitalism is required to
establish the basal global economy. Consider a state where there is no specific global
economy however their definitely exist human beings with desires, needs and wants. In order
to settle such hungers, a capitalistic society is necessary. Although in near future, such
capitalistic society is open to adaptation and one may observe a more fluid relationship
between the owner and the producer rather than that of a master and a slave.

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Additionally, Fukuyama borrows Plato’s idea of 'Thymos’ to elaborate on the concept of

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