Syllabus
1) Introduction 2) R. Guénon, The Crisis of the Modern World, Sophia Perennis, Hillsdale N.Y 2001, Preface, Ch. 1 – 2, pp. 1 – 32. 3) Ibid., Ch. 3 – 4, pp. 33 – 54. 4) Ibid., Ch. 5 – 6, pp. 55 – 80. 5) Ibid., Ch. 7 – 8 – 9, pp. 81 – 118. 6) Julius Evola, Revolt against the Modern World, Inner Traditions International, Rochester, Vermont 1995, Ch. 11 – 14, pp. 68 – 100. 7) Ibid., Ch. 22 – 26, pp. 175 – 210. 8) Ibid., Ch. 27 – 30, pp. 211 – 277. 9) Ibid., Ch. 31 – 34, pp. 278 – 326. 10) Ibid., Ch. 35 – 37, Conclusion, Appendix, pp. 327 – 369. 11) Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or Cosmos and History, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1991, Ch. 3, pp. 94 – 137. 12) Ibid., Ch. 4, pp. 140 – 162. 13) Concluding Discussion
Annotation
Unlike the anti-globalist movement of the turn of the 21st century the anti-liberal revolt which began in the 2010s has been driven not by anti-capitalism but rather anti-modernism. An alternative to liberal globalism has not been found in the future of utopia but in the past of tradition.
This course is devoted to the philosophically most interesting kind of traditionalism that evokes one perennial Tradition that supposedly manifested itself in all premodern civilizations and religions. Although the roots of perennialism can be traced the Hermetic strand of the Renaissance thought (M.
Ficino) its coherent re-formulation in the context of the 20th century was carried out by René Guénon in the 1920s. Whereas he stressed the metaphysical and, therefore, contemplative nature of his endeavors some of his younger followers such as Julius Evola and Mircea Eliade sought to give his doctrine more political expression by linking it to the Fascist movements of the 1930s.
The course offers the reading of one text by each of those authors.