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The Future of the Intelligentsia & For a French Awakening
Charles Maurras (1868-1952) was one of the earliest and most inspiring anti-modernists in Europe but has been little read or recognised outside France. This edition presents the first English translation of two of Maurras' most important essays, L'avenir de l'intelligence (1904/1905) and Pour un rEveil franCais (1943). His views on the significance of tradition, money and the intelligentsia in the modern state in the first of the two essays are perhaps even more significant to nationalist-minded readers today than they were at the time of its composition. In the second essay, Maurras' analysis of the monarchical tradition of French politics is a reminder that true conservatism is impossible in a parliamentary system geared to international financial interests, while formerly monarchical nations are viable only to the extent to which they continue the politico-social systems of their founding princes.
- GenresPoliticsPhilosophyFrance
134 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2016
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About the author
Charles Maurras
234 books51 followersFrench author, poet, and critic.
He was a leader and principal thinker of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary.
Maurras' ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and "nationalisme integral".
He was a leader and principal thinker of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary.
Maurras' ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and "nationalisme integral".
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May 8, 2017
Macron, Le Pen and the battle for the idea of France
‘Two ancient visions of France frame the way many voters of all political leanings see this election’
by Simon Kuper
in: https://www.ft.com/content/9720e6e2-2...
November 19, 2022
Charles Maurras was an opponent of Dreyfus and made a death threat against Leon Blum. He supported fascism, and idolized traditional family values. We must take him seriously, both since he was enormously influential, and since unfortunately he is one of the few fascists that pose a substantive intellectual challenge.
Maurras is fixated on the idea of order, which he defines as the harmony between public and private fictions. The French nation, apparently, is especially fussy about preserving order, in everything from feminine grooming to the classification of ideas. Maurras informs us that the French despise improvisation and adore hierarchy. One wishes that public and private narratives could overlap without glorifying hierarchy.
Maurras berates those who consider it witty or profound to discount the value of ideas in motivating action, especially revolutionary action. His description of the function of ideology applies, unfortunately, to the Left as well:
"we live under a government of public opinion; we are the people who extract this opinion and set it to work. We pull it from the unconscious, where it sleeps and we model it in formulas full of life."
Maurras is aware that ideology operates at an unconscious level. Intellectuals discover just how little people value conscious cognition, and must choose between selling themselves out while maintaining the fiction of their sovereignty or accepting a more consultative humble role. Maurras recommends the latter, on the basis of a conspiratorial antisemitic argument against the impersonal power of money, defending the nobility of hereditary blood relations. We ought to choose the latter, but on different grounds: we are called to be guardians of the sanctity and dignity of the moral law, a far more reliable exception to the crushing law of universal fungibility than any nationalism or patriotism. This alternative has its roots in Rousseau and Kant. He calls it 'moral individualism,' an absurd label for a tradition that is notable for emphasizing the power of cooperation and coordination among free rational agents.
At the end of the day, Maurras' brand of reaction attempts to save Eternal France from foreign (read: Jewish) corruption. Perhaps she needed a bit of alien influence, to save her from degenerating into pusillanimous mediocrity.
Maurras is fixated on the idea of order, which he defines as the harmony between public and private fictions. The French nation, apparently, is especially fussy about preserving order, in everything from feminine grooming to the classification of ideas. Maurras informs us that the French despise improvisation and adore hierarchy. One wishes that public and private narratives could overlap without glorifying hierarchy.
Maurras berates those who consider it witty or profound to discount the value of ideas in motivating action, especially revolutionary action. His description of the function of ideology applies, unfortunately, to the Left as well:
"we live under a government of public opinion; we are the people who extract this opinion and set it to work. We pull it from the unconscious, where it sleeps and we model it in formulas full of life."
Maurras is aware that ideology operates at an unconscious level. Intellectuals discover just how little people value conscious cognition, and must choose between selling themselves out while maintaining the fiction of their sovereignty or accepting a more consultative humble role. Maurras recommends the latter, on the basis of a conspiratorial antisemitic argument against the impersonal power of money, defending the nobility of hereditary blood relations. We ought to choose the latter, but on different grounds: we are called to be guardians of the sanctity and dignity of the moral law, a far more reliable exception to the crushing law of universal fungibility than any nationalism or patriotism. This alternative has its roots in Rousseau and Kant. He calls it 'moral individualism,' an absurd label for a tradition that is notable for emphasizing the power of cooperation and coordination among free rational agents.
At the end of the day, Maurras' brand of reaction attempts to save Eternal France from foreign (read: Jewish) corruption. Perhaps she needed a bit of alien influence, to save her from degenerating into pusillanimous mediocrity.
March 4, 2018
First part of book is painful second part is very good short explainer on appeal of Monarchism to some
February 19, 2022
Nothing groundbreaking here. He simply details the detrimental effects of allowing intelligentsia to be falter and lose it's nobility by first prostituting itself for money and then becoming the embaressment it is today with it's socialist agenda. His point is more or less to clean up the arts and return them to nobility they once had.
February 19, 2024
As of writing so far only English Translation of this masterpiece. Despite the short read, the book is well written by an influential Intellectual who has sadly been forgotten by some or maligned wrongly by others. Great patriotic reading, defender of the Faith and A Man of action . A must read for anyone.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews