Abstract
Although ideas naturally take on new guise with every appearance—they must, after all, be articulated and applied within particular cultures (languages, religions, technologies)—they remain fundamentally recognizable throughout history. In a given time and place one idea may seem to be ascendant and its rival decisively beaten; but it is just a matter of time before the vanquished idea returns, like Napoleon out of exile, and enjoys its own, more or less ephemeral, triumph.