¶1 We consider now, in a more particular way, one of the principal aspects of the opposition that exists at present between the Oriental spirit and the Occidental spirit, and which is, more generally, that of the traditional spirit and the anti-traditional spirit, as we have explained.1 From a certain point of view, which is moreover one of the most fundamental, this opposition appears as that of contemplation and action,2 or, to speak more exactly, as bearing upon the respective places that it is fitting to attribute to each of these two terms. These can, in their relationship, be envisaged in several different ways: are they truly two contraries, as one seems most often to think, or would they not rather be two complementaries,3 or else might there not be in reality between them a relationship, not of coordination, but of subordination?4 Such are the different aspects of the question, and these aspects relate to as many points of view, moreover of very unequal importance, but each of which can be justified in some respects and corresponds to a certain order of reality.5
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Summary

Guénon focuses on a key aspect of the present opposition between the Oriental and Occidental spirits, which he also identifies more broadly as the opposition between the traditional and anti-traditional spirits. From one fundamental viewpoint, this opposition appears as that between contemplation and action, specifically concerning the proper place each should be given. He asks whether these two terms are genuine opposites, whether they are instead complementary, or whether their relationship is one not of coordination but of subordination. These different possibilities correspond to points of view of unequal importance, each justifiable within a certain order of reality.

General notes

  1. esprit oriental / esprit occidental — Rendered as ‘Oriental spirit / Occidental spirit’. These terms designate not geographical or racial entities but fundamental metaphysical orientations. The Oriental spirit represents the primacy of intellectual intuition and contemplation, while the modern Occidental spirit embodies the tendency towards exterior action and analytical rationalism. Guénon specifies that this opposition is not merely cultural but reflects the struggle between the traditional spirit (faithful to the sophia perennis) and the anti-traditional spirit (materialism and the profane). ↩︎
  2. contemplation et action — Rendered as ‘contemplation and action’. Guénon here establishes a metaphysical hierarchy in which contemplation (theoria) is superior to action (praxis), in accordance with traditional doctrine. Contemplation is the act by which the pure intellect unites with its transcendent principle, while action belongs to the domain of change and temporal manifestation. This distinction overlaps with that between the Orient (contemplative) and the modern Occident (active). ↩︎
  3. complémentaires — Rendered as ‘complementaries’. Complementarity would imply that contemplation and action balance and mutually supplement each other. Guénon rejects this position because it masks the real hierarchical subordination. Complementarity belongs to the domain of horizontal coordination, whereas the true relationship between contemplation and action is vertical and hierarchical. This distinction is crucial for understanding the error of certain modern interpretations that pretend to ‘balance’ the Orient and the Occident. ↩︎
  4. subordination — Rendered as ‘subordination’. A key term of Guénonian metaphysics. Subordination means that action must be ordered to contemplation as to its supreme end, and not the reverse. This is the traditional thesis par excellence: action (including ritual and social action) has value only insofar as it is directed towards spiritual knowledge. Guénon opposes this subordination both to coordination (egalitarianism of contraries) and to the modern inversion that subordinates contemplation to action. ↩︎
  5. ordre de réalité — Rendered as ‘order of reality’. Guénon distinguishes several hierarchised levels of reality: the metaphysical domain (transcendent principles), the cosmological domain (manifestation), and the temporal domain (contingent action). Each point of view (contraries, complementaries, subordinated) is valid on a certain level, but only that of subordination expresses the integral metaphysical truth. This is a typical example of the Guénonian method which integrates partial perspectives into a hierarchical synthesis. ↩︎