From the notebook of Friedrich Nietzsche, autumn 1887: ‘Modernity‘, using the metaphor of feeding and digestion. Sensibility unutterably more excitable ( – the increase in excitability dressed in moralistic finery as the increase of compassion – ), the abundance of disparate impressions greater than ever before – the cosmopolitanism of … Continue reading
Category Archives: Science
Remembering the Dead
Note: This translation of Charles Maurras’ “All Soul’s Day” originally appeared in Taki’s Magazine. On All Soul’s Day, we honor the memory of the dead, especially those closest to us in our hearts and mind. Charles Maurras refers to this as “the universal cult of the dead, of all the … Continue reading
Galileo: Stop the Presses
Somewhere in Italy, in the 17th century. One beautiful morning, Giovanni is sitting out on his patio, sipping on some espresso and reading the newspaper. His wife comes out of the house and begins hanging up some clothes to dry. “Listen to this, Maria,” said Giovanni. “On the front page, … Continue reading
Intelligibility, Ideology and Occult Scientific Theories
When science changed its methodology from the description of phenomena, to the search for occult causes, it then made its three most significant discoveries of modern times. These are Nuclear/Subnuclear Energy in Physics, Evolution in Biology and the Unconscious in Psychology. What they have in common is that the cause … Continue reading
Science at a Standstill
Science seems to be at a standstill after centuries of revolutionary developments. Physics is stuck with incompatible theories – Relativity and Quantum Mechanics – and remains far from a unified theory. Biology is no closer than Darwin to explaining the origins of life and the actual mechanics of the evolution … Continue reading
The Seven Enigmas of the World
In 1880, the physiologist Emil du Bois-Reymond proposed seven riddles of the world that science could not answer and most likely never would. To wit: the ultimate nature of matter and force the origin of motion the origin of life the purpose of living beings the origin of sensations the … Continue reading
Social Facts and Group Control
Emile Durkheim, following the positivist school of sociology defines the Social Fact as social phenomena having an existence independent of the individuals comprising the social group. As such, it has a coercive effect. A corollary is that the individuals comprising the group can change, while leaving the group behavior intact. … Continue reading
Berdyaev and the Mirage of Progress
In these passages, taken from The Destiny of Man, Berdyaev reveals his origins from Russian Hermetism and that he is more than a “philosopher” in the academic sense. He rejects the notion that we can study man as he is today and then extrapolate back to his origins. Like Guenon, … Continue reading