The Crisis of the Modern World (Collected Works of Rene Guenon) (Hardcover)

Perhaps the best word to describe him is "sage" with all the overtones of antiquity, orientality, and wholeness that that word evokes. He is certainly not a "philosopher" in the usual understanding of that word, nor is he a "theologian", although all his thought is centered on the Source of all reality.

A student of Guenon, Jean Borella, has written an extremely helpful essay called "Rene Guenon and the Traditionalist School" which can be found in the book "Modern Esoteric Spirituality". Borella finds five fundamental themes in Guenon's writings, among which is the theme of "intellectual reform and criticism of the modern world". This is the theme that informs "The Crisis of the Modern World".

Guenon begins with a PREFACE in which he meditates on the word "crisis". This word can be understood to mean a "critical phase" i.e. a turning point for either better or worse, but it can also be understood, in keeping with its original meaning, to suggest a time in which the thing in crisis is ripe for judgment and discernment. Accordingly, the remainder of Guenon's book is his judgment of modernity and its fate in the light of traditional doctrine.

In the next chapter, THE DARK AGE, Guenon sketches the traditional doctrine of the human cycle or "Manvantara". (A more complete explanation of this can be found in "The Myth of the Eternal Return" cf. my review) According to this teaching we are now far into the fourth age of the world, called the "Kali Yuga" ("time of troubles"), which is characterized by a remoteness from the principle and source of human flourishing and therefore darkness, materialism, and chaos. This doctrine is the very opposite of the modern notion of progress.

In THE OPPOSITION BETWEEN EAST AND WEST, Guenon traces the cause of this opposition to the West's abandonment of the traditional and normal mentality which has been retained for the most part by the East. (Guenon was writing in 1927.) By "East" he means the Chinese, Indian, and Islamic Civilizations, and by "West" he means Europe and America. He sees the solution to this opposition in a return to tradition by a western intellectual elite. It should be noted that Guenon gives the words "tradition" and "intellectual" a very exact and easily misunderstood meaning.

In KNOWLEDGE AND ACTION Guenon examines the subordination of contemplation to action as the key difference separating the modern from the traditional world, and therefore West from East. From this inversion results the mental scattering and agitated monotony characteristic of modern times. Here we see Guenon's understanding of "intellectual" and its coordination with "tradition". The intellect is the supra-rational faculty which beholds tradition i.e. that which is given or "handed over." (from the Latin "tradere" to give over.)

Continuing the discussion of knowledge, Guenon distinguishes SACRED SCIENCE AND PROFANE SCIENCE in the next chapter. The sacred or traditional sciences proceed from and lead back to principles which are grasped in intellectual intuition. Profane or modern sciences view the same objects as the sacred sciences, but from the "profane point of view" which is to say in ignorance or blindness of the principles from which these objects flow. Guenon discusses ancient and modern physics, astrology and astronomy, and alchemy and chemistry.

The "root error and cause" of modern science is INDIVIDUALISM according to Guenon. Here again we must be careful to understand the word as Guenon uses it. The individual in question is distinguishing himself not from the rest of human society, but from the supernatural world or the authority of the realm of principles. Individualism then, which is at the heart of modernity, is nothing more than a negation. Guenon explains how modern errors follow from individualism in philosophy and religion and looks at such manifestations of individualism as "originality".

In chapter 7, THE SOCIAL CHAOS, Guenon examines democracy and its modern psuedo-priniciple, social equality. He finds democracy's appeal to the law of the greatest number to be nothing more than an appeal to the law of the brute force of matter, because matter is by nature a multiplicity as distinguished from spirit which is by nature a unity.

In A MATERIAL CIVILIZATION, Guenon summarizes his judgment on the modern civilization of the West. It is characterized by materialism which Guenon defines as living life as if nothing existed but the material world. It is therefore a disease that infects the West almost completely, even including those who acknowledge the world of the spirit but live as do those who do not.

In chapter 8, WESTERN ENCROCHMENT, Guenon discusses the spread of the modern mentality into the East and takes issue with the opinions of Henri Massis expressed in his book "Defense of the West". (Massis was a disciple of Charles Marras founder of "Action Francaise", a French Monarchist organization.) Guenon finds Massis to completely misunderstand Eastern doctrines, and sees him as a fine example of "low-grade" traditionalism.

In SOME CONCLUSIONS, Guenon discusses the prospects for the reestablishment of a Western traditional elite whose purpose would be to somewhat curtail the disastrous effects of materialism, and transmit the traditional doctrine into the new world that will follow the present dissolution.

This is only the briefest summary of a book rich in depth and insight in spite of its small size. Anyone who carefully reads and meditates on its contents cannot help but feel the singular power and purity of the author's intelligence, even though one may question some of the doctrines it contains. Many would find its contents incomprehensible or even scandalous but "he who has ears to hear, let him hear."