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Faustian Man in a Multicultural Age
At this pivotal moment in recent Western history, Richard Duchesne tackles what may be the most crucial question for people of European ‘What makes us unique?’ Casting aside the dominant cultural Marxist narratives and dismissing the popular media attacks on concepts of ‘whiteness’, Duchesne draws on a range of historical examples, sources and philosophies to examine the origins of European man, his achievements, and the nature of the Faustian spirit that has driven his innovation and creativity. In an age of multiculturalism and globalism one might ask the question ‘Whither Western Man?’ Faustian Man in a Multicultural Age digs deeply in our origins and development to try and point the reader towards the answer. Ricardo Duchesne is a professor at The University of New Brunswick. His landmark book from 2011, The Uniqueness of Western Civilization, was a critique of the ongoing devaluing of Western culture in the face of multiculturalism since the 1960s. He was also the founder and is one of the chief contributors to the Council of European Canadians Website (www.eurocanadian.ca).
260 pages, Paperback
Published September 22, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 2, 2021
Profoundly frustrating.
In all his work, Duchesne displays an astonishing breadth of scholarship - an intimate familiarity with the Western canon that extends from the middle ages into the modern world. I relish his critiques of the ruinous postmodern academic cathedral. But when he moves from criticism into positive argument, he betrays profound failures of logic and reason. He could also start by hiring an editor who speaks English as a native language.
One gets the sense that he wouldn't consider anyone working outside the alt-right his intellectual equal, and consequently has never taken the time to discuss these ideas with someone who might give cogent and informed counter-arguments.
I offer the book's excruciating conclusion, discussing the Faustian character of explorers:
'These are the characters cultural Marxists hate, and it is they who gave the West its glory. These men can still be found today, most evidently in 'extreme sports,' in rock climbing without harness, hiking in extreme weather, aggressive inline skating, kitesurfing, snowboarding, base jumping, diving, parachuting... Almost all the men involved in these high risk undertakings are white. The Faustian spirit lives even if the West is in decline culturally, geopolitically, and economically. What really threatens this spirit, smothering it forever, is mass immigration and race mixing. This is why the concept of a European sub-race is essential to a full understanding of the Faustian soul of Western civilisation, and the imminent danger facing this soul.'
I doubt that the pallid, flabby Duchesne has ever set foot on a mountain. If he had, he might find that the characters of the men (and women, of which there are many) involved in 'extreme sports' have nothing in common with him or his ideas. The achievements of Japanese, Korean, and non-white Soviet alpinists rather undermine his thesis of heroic Indo-European exceptionalism.
Duchesne is, I think, the victim of his own intelligence. Lacking a competent interlocutor, and faced with living straw men in the humanities and the social sciences, he has made logical leaps over gaping chasms of irrationality, arriving at a sickening (and unsupported) conclusion.
Read it for the critique, but hold your nose.
In all his work, Duchesne displays an astonishing breadth of scholarship - an intimate familiarity with the Western canon that extends from the middle ages into the modern world. I relish his critiques of the ruinous postmodern academic cathedral. But when he moves from criticism into positive argument, he betrays profound failures of logic and reason. He could also start by hiring an editor who speaks English as a native language.
One gets the sense that he wouldn't consider anyone working outside the alt-right his intellectual equal, and consequently has never taken the time to discuss these ideas with someone who might give cogent and informed counter-arguments.
I offer the book's excruciating conclusion, discussing the Faustian character of explorers:
'These are the characters cultural Marxists hate, and it is they who gave the West its glory. These men can still be found today, most evidently in 'extreme sports,' in rock climbing without harness, hiking in extreme weather, aggressive inline skating, kitesurfing, snowboarding, base jumping, diving, parachuting... Almost all the men involved in these high risk undertakings are white. The Faustian spirit lives even if the West is in decline culturally, geopolitically, and economically. What really threatens this spirit, smothering it forever, is mass immigration and race mixing. This is why the concept of a European sub-race is essential to a full understanding of the Faustian soul of Western civilisation, and the imminent danger facing this soul.'
I doubt that the pallid, flabby Duchesne has ever set foot on a mountain. If he had, he might find that the characters of the men (and women, of which there are many) involved in 'extreme sports' have nothing in common with him or his ideas. The achievements of Japanese, Korean, and non-white Soviet alpinists rather undermine his thesis of heroic Indo-European exceptionalism.
Duchesne is, I think, the victim of his own intelligence. Lacking a competent interlocutor, and faced with living straw men in the humanities and the social sciences, he has made logical leaps over gaping chasms of irrationality, arriving at a sickening (and unsupported) conclusion.
Read it for the critique, but hold your nose.
April 9, 2017
A stunning and solid response to the Cultural Marxist who dominate academia today. It may be too little and too late, but the views and citations of the author are relevant and timely.
Read
November 25, 2022Comment:
This book is an attempt at a 'liberal racism'. Good Lord! If you live long enough you will see everything! How is this even possible? ...He does, unfortunately, have a point. If you go back and read anglo-american books of the first quarter of the last century you will be amazed at how typical racist stereotypes and ideas were among both progressives and conservatives. It was the war against Hitler that led to the movement away from racism in both the continental and the anglo-american sphere. The winners always write history...
Our author is opposed to the authoritarian (one might say Order-obsessed) racism of Nazis, KKK and assorted fellow-traveling nuts. He basically wants to go back to the mainstream 'progressive' racism of a century ago. This is a very interesting maneuver. Up till now, the racists have typically had a hard time recruiting intelligent people in the Anglo-American sphere. Certainly, they have more than their fair share of imbecilic brawlers, but thinkers - not so much. The gambit our author attempts here, and promises to continue in forthcoming books, deserves to be watched carefully.
I include here several provocative (to his brethren on the racist right) statements culled from the Preface:
"... race is a factor that must be taken just as seriously by social scientists as other 'big' factors 'economics', 'religion', 'ideas', 'geography', 'culture; and 'demography'. I am not a race determinist, and do think that these other factors are also essential to our understanding of history."
"... I don't view liberalism itself, as some in the Alt Right do, in negative terms as a form of 'rationalism' that is inherently disconnected from the tragic and dark side of human nature, the separation of people into races. I also don't think that Western liberalism is suicidal..."
"... liberalism is inherent to Western identity; this civilization cannot be traditional in the way other civilizations are, and although these great epochs are linked to current trends we dislike, they are not intrinsically and necessarily responsible for the decline West. [...] decline is part of the natural cycle of cultures."
This book is an attempt at a 'liberal racism'. Good Lord! If you live long enough you will see everything! How is this even possible? ...He does, unfortunately, have a point. If you go back and read anglo-american books of the first quarter of the last century you will be amazed at how typical racist stereotypes and ideas were among both progressives and conservatives. It was the war against Hitler that led to the movement away from racism in both the continental and the anglo-american sphere. The winners always write history...
Our author is opposed to the authoritarian (one might say Order-obsessed) racism of Nazis, KKK and assorted fellow-traveling nuts. He basically wants to go back to the mainstream 'progressive' racism of a century ago. This is a very interesting maneuver. Up till now, the racists have typically had a hard time recruiting intelligent people in the Anglo-American sphere. Certainly, they have more than their fair share of imbecilic brawlers, but thinkers - not so much. The gambit our author attempts here, and promises to continue in forthcoming books, deserves to be watched carefully.
I include here several provocative (to his brethren on the racist right) statements culled from the Preface:
"... race is a factor that must be taken just as seriously by social scientists as other 'big' factors 'economics', 'religion', 'ideas', 'geography', 'culture; and 'demography'. I am not a race determinist, and do think that these other factors are also essential to our understanding of history."
"... I don't view liberalism itself, as some in the Alt Right do, in negative terms as a form of 'rationalism' that is inherently disconnected from the tragic and dark side of human nature, the separation of people into races. I also don't think that Western liberalism is suicidal..."
"... liberalism is inherent to Western identity; this civilization cannot be traditional in the way other civilizations are, and although these great epochs are linked to current trends we dislike, they are not intrinsically and necessarily responsible for the decline West. [...] decline is part of the natural cycle of cultures."
July 13, 2020
A collection of loosely related historiographical reviews relating to the present domination of Cultural Marxist thought in the humanities -- in particular the field of history. Duchesne forcefully counterattacks against this ideology's systematic dismantling of Western identity, a phenomenon that he has observed unfold in his years as a professor.
Duchesne should be applauded for his tenacity in refusing to moderate his views nor bow to "politically correct" self-censorship. He is explicit and unyielding in his assertion that Western civilization is uniquely European (i.e. white). This book sets a very important example, in this regard, for young scholars to follow: "beating around the bush" doesn't cut it anymore; you have to explicitly reject post-modernism, deconstructionism, critical theory, et al.
However, the book was not nearly as focused as I had hoped for. "Canada in Decay" was truly a cohesive, focused book, in this sense (have not read "Uniqueness"). "Faustian Man", as mentioned, is more a series of related essays tied to the unifying theme of the West's Faustian soul. Many sections of the book very obviously serve as jousting grounds for specific fights Duchesne wishes to pick with some of his most egregiously neo-Marxist academic peers. Yet, these sections of the book sometimes become a little stale because of how methodical Duchesne has to be in countering his opponents arguments. This book is definitely a product of academia.
What I most gained from reading this book was a clear, objective conception of the West's Indo-European origins and heritage. Duchesne's concise summary of Spengler's concept of the West's 'Faustian urge' was also a welcomed quality.
Overall, "Faustian Man in a Multicultural Age" is an important read for anyone who wants to learn the truth about the dumpster fire that the humanities and the discipline of history have degenerated into. For those who more generally want to learn about Western (aka white) identitarianism, this book is not the best starting point, given its loose sense of focus and highly academic tenor.
7/10
Duchesne should be applauded for his tenacity in refusing to moderate his views nor bow to "politically correct" self-censorship. He is explicit and unyielding in his assertion that Western civilization is uniquely European (i.e. white). This book sets a very important example, in this regard, for young scholars to follow: "beating around the bush" doesn't cut it anymore; you have to explicitly reject post-modernism, deconstructionism, critical theory, et al.
However, the book was not nearly as focused as I had hoped for. "Canada in Decay" was truly a cohesive, focused book, in this sense (have not read "Uniqueness"). "Faustian Man", as mentioned, is more a series of related essays tied to the unifying theme of the West's Faustian soul. Many sections of the book very obviously serve as jousting grounds for specific fights Duchesne wishes to pick with some of his most egregiously neo-Marxist academic peers. Yet, these sections of the book sometimes become a little stale because of how methodical Duchesne has to be in countering his opponents arguments. This book is definitely a product of academia.
What I most gained from reading this book was a clear, objective conception of the West's Indo-European origins and heritage. Duchesne's concise summary of Spengler's concept of the West's 'Faustian urge' was also a welcomed quality.
Overall, "Faustian Man in a Multicultural Age" is an important read for anyone who wants to learn the truth about the dumpster fire that the humanities and the discipline of history have degenerated into. For those who more generally want to learn about Western (aka white) identitarianism, this book is not the best starting point, given its loose sense of focus and highly academic tenor.
7/10
December 23, 2019
Criticizes the critics of the historic predatory activities of the Indo-Europeans who ignore the use of force and fraud was in fact used by them in the service of much nobler causes than, say, by Polynesian tribesmen. Expect biological reductionism deployed in the protection of the Nordic phenotype... but our neurotypes are of course much more important than any stinking phenotype. Ricardo Duchesne exposes himself as a normie, a total neurotypical, here in not advocating segregation and historical analysis based upon neurotypes since he doesn't want to get stuck lower on the ladder of genius.
tl;dr "we wuz explorers 'n shit", da Cultural Marxists are undermining muh aristocratic warrior behavioural attributes from propagating by promoting an insufficiently internalist and racial historical pedagogy
tl;dr "we wuz explorers 'n shit", da Cultural Marxists are undermining muh aristocratic warrior behavioural attributes from propagating by promoting an insufficiently internalist and racial historical pedagogy
December 26, 2018
Very interesting idea of Indo Europeans
November 10, 2019
It made me understand why I'm a European globetrotter physically and imaginary!
November 12, 2020
This book makes an excellent gift and should be part of your Canadian library.
Thank you Dr. Duchesne.
Thank you Dr. Duchesne.
December 7, 2022
“They took our jirbs!”
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews