The End of History and the Last Man (Avon Books, 1993; first published 1992)

Francis Fukuyama · c. 1992

Francis Fukuyama did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this book, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The book prints chapter headings its extracted text does not preserve, so the claims below are in the book's order but not grouped. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
What is winning is the liberal idea more than liberal practice

Their wordsWhat is emerging victorious, in other words, is not so much liberal practice, as the liberal idea.
Our reading
Liberal democracy turns the desire to be recognized as greater into the desire to be recognized as equal

Their wordsLiberal democracy replaces the irrational desire to be recognized as greater than others with a rational desire to be recognized as equal.
Our reading
Liberal democracy cannot survive on equal recognition alone; it needs the desire to be greater

Their wordsIf liberal democracy is ever subverted by megalothymia, it will be because liberal democracy needs megalothymia and will never survive on the basis of universal and equal recognition alone.
Our reading
A worldwide consensus had emerged on the legitimacy of liberal democracy

Their wordsI argued that a remarkable consensus concerning the legitimacy of liberal democracy as a system of government had emerged throughout the world over the past few years
Our reading
Liberal democracy may be the end point of mankind's ideological evolution

Their wordsI argued that liberal democracy may constitute the "end point of mankind's ideological evolution" and the "final form of human government," and as such constituted the "end of history."

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