From Chapter II, “Principles”, La Propriété, of Mes Idées Politique, by Charles Maurras. Property is the natural safeguard of man, an industrious animal still more than reasonable, for whom his needs, his weakness, the dissatisfaction that he brings from the cradle make a narrow duty of transforming what surrounds him. … Continue reading
Organic and Mechanical Thinking
Organic thinking is related to intellectual intuition. As such, it is thinking in depth, or three-dimensional thinking. Mechanical thinking cannot penetrate into the essence of ideas, so it can only see them in relationship to each other. This type of thinking, therefore, is polemical; it needs to takes sides in a debate, to prefer one idea over another. Continue reading
Possessing the Truth Actively
It is clearly important to know metaphysical truth in an active manner. This should require much contemplation of metaphysical teachings, and beyond that, a great deal of self-knowledge that is the fruit of self-observation. As long as a man remains passive in respect to metaphysical truths, he can only understand them as abstractions. Continue reading
Principle VI: Rights and Laws (Clarifications)
From Chapter II, “Principles”, Le Droit et la Loi, of Mes Idées Politique, by Charles Maurras. This is part two of two. Clarifications on the Nature of Law According to a venerable [the Middle Ages] maxim [lex consensus populi et constitutione regis fit], the law is made by the action … Continue reading
The Age of the Feminine
The use of the term “love” to designate an intellectual reality is moreover explained by the fact that sentiment, while being inferior to reason because of its emotional subjectivity, is nevertheless symbolically comparable to what is superior to reason, namely the Intellect; it is so because sentiment, like the Intellect at whose antipodes it stands, is not discursive, but direct, simple, spontaneous, unlimited. Continue reading
Principle VI: Rights and Laws
From Chapter II, “Principles”, Le Droit et la Loi, of Mes Idées Politique, by Charles Maurras. This is part one of two. I always believed that the privilege of rights also represents the privilege of duties. The experience of the nature of things established that the domain of common law … Continue reading
Vox Populi
Because quantity is the sole criterion, any tactic whatsoever can be used to gain a vote. Issues are secondary, since very few people know what they are beyond the simple-minded propaganda statements that can fit on a placard. Continue reading
Prolegomena to Historiography
it may take generations for the lesson to be learned. As it is said, the iniquities of the fathers fall on the children. Very few men have the acuity to see how decisions made today will affect their descendants three generations hence. Continue reading
November Musings
The past is considered to have been inhabited by ignorant, superstitious, stupid, intolerant, and evil men. The corollary is that men of today have “evolved”, apparently through no effort of their own. Hence, they cannot possibly be ignorant, superstitious, stupid, intolerant, or evil, no matter what they say, do, or think. Continue reading
Principle V: Freedom
From Chapter II, “Principles”, La Liberté, of Mes Idées Politique, by Charles Maurras. Freedom is not at the beginning, but at the end. It is not at the root, but in the flowers and the fruits of human nature or, better said, human virtue. A man is freer in the … Continue reading