¶18 That is not all: the modern epoch must necessarily correspond to the development of certain of the possibilities that, from the origin, were included in the potentiality of the present cycle; and, however inferior the rank occupied by these possibilities in the hierarchy of the whole, they had nevertheless to be called to manifestation, as much as the others, according to the order assigned to them.1 In this respect, what characterises the ultimate phase of the cycle, according to tradition, is, one might say, the exploitation of everything that has been neglected or rejected during the preceding phases; and, effectively, this is precisely what we can observe in modern civilisation, which lives, as it were, only on what earlier civilisations had not wanted.2 One need only, to realise this, see how the representatives of those civilisations that have maintained themselves up to now in the Oriental world appreciate Western sciences and their industrial applications.3 These inferior branches of knowledge, so vain in the eyes of those who possess knowledge of another order, nevertheless had to be ‘realised’, and they could only be realised at a stage where true intellectuality had disappeared; these investigations of an exclusively practical scope, in the narrowest sense of the word, had to be accomplished, but they could only be accomplished at the extreme opposite of primordial spirituality, by men immersed in matter to the point of conceiving nothing beyond it, and becoming all the more slaves of this matter the more they wish to use it, which leads them to an ever-increasing agitation, without rule and without goal, to dispersion in pure multiplicity, right up to the final dissolution.4
Summary
The modern epoch corresponds to the development of certain possibilities included from the origin in the present cycle. Although inferior in the hierarchy, they had to be manifested according to their assigned order. What characterises the ultimate phase of the cycle, according to tradition, is the exploitation of everything neglected or rejected during preceding phases. Modern civilisation lives only on what earlier civilisations did not want. These inferior branches of knowledge had to be ‘realised’ at a stage where true intellectuality had disappeared. These exclusively practical investigations had to be accomplished at the extreme opposite of primordial spirituality, by men immersed in matter, slaves to this matter, given over to an agitation without rule or goal, right up to final dissolution.
General notes
- possibilités incluses dans la potentialité du cycle — Rendered as 'possibilities included in the potentiality of the cycle'. Guénon here applies a fundamental metaphysical principle: the cycle of manifestation contains in potency all the possibilities of a certain order, from the highest to the lowest. All must be realised at one time or another, according to a hierarchical order (the highest first, the lowest at the end). Modernity corresponds to the realisation of the lowest possibilities (material, profane, quantitative), which were neglected or rejected by earlier epochs. This is not an accident, but a cyclical necessity. It does not make modernity better, but explains why it exists. ↩︎
- exploitation de ce qui a été négligé ou rejeté — Rendered as 'exploitation of what has been neglected or rejected'. Guénon uses a strong image: modernity feeds on the waste or the forgotten of previous cycles. Traditional civilisations did not ignore matter or technique; they kept them in their subordinate place, without granting them supreme value. Modernity has made these inferior elements the centre of its civilisation, developed them to their maximum, but at the cost of the loss of all spirituality. The 'novelty' of modernity is not an absolute invention, but the exclusive valorisation of what was secondary. ↩︎
- appréciation orientale des sciences et techniques occidentales — Rendered as 'Oriental appreciation of Western sciences and techniques'. Guénon, a connoisseur of Oriental civilisations (India, China, Japan), notes that their traditional elites recognise the technical efficiency of modern sciences (medicine, engineering, technology), but deny them any spiritual or metaphysical value. For them, this knowledge is useful in the material domain, but in no way capable of replacing traditional wisdom. This observation is a proof that modern science is not a 'superior knowledge', but only a technique, and that its (pretended) universality is only a Western myth. ↩︎
- esclavage de la matière … agitation sans règle … dissolution finale — Rendered as 'slavery to matter … agitation without rule … final dissolution'. Guénon describes the vicious circle of modern civilisation: the more one uses matter (technology, industry, consumption), the more one becomes dependent on it (artificial needs, ecological crisis, alienation). Agitation (the accelerated rhythm of modern life, perpetual innovation) has neither rule nor goal; it is pure dispersion (multiplication of objects, data, leisure). This agitation leads to final dissolution (end of the cycle). Guénon does not predict a date, but a process. The term 'dissolution' refers to the end of a cycle, not to the end of humanity. ↩︎