Editing Decadence (section)

=== Jacques Barzun ===
[[File:Jacques barzun.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jacques Barzun]], author of ''[[From Dawn to Decadence]]'']]
The historian [[Jacques Barzun]] (1907–2012) gives a definition of decadence which is independent from moral judgement. In his bestseller ''[[From Dawn to Decadence]]: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life''<ref>Barzun, Jacques: ''From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life''. [[HarperCollins]], New York 2000.</ref> (published 2000) he describes decadent eras as times when "the forms of art as of life seem exhausted, the stages of development have been run through. Institutions function painfully." He emphasizes that "decadent" in his view is "not a [[pejorative|slur]]" but "a technical label".

With reference to Barzun, ''[[New York Times]]'' columnist [[Ross Douthat]] characterizes decadence as a state of "economic stagnation, institutional decay and cultural and intellectual exhaustion at a high level of material prosperity and technological development".<ref>{{cite news |last=Douthat |first=Ross |date=7 February 2020 |title=The Age of Decadence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/opinion/sunday/western-society-decadence.html |access-date=2021-02-10 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Douthat sees the West in the 21st century in an "age of decadence", marked by stalemate and stagnation. He is the author of the book ''The Decadent Society'', published by [[Simon & Schuster]] in 2020.