¶7 The most decisive argument against ‘democracy’ can be summed up in a few words: the superior cannot emanate from the inferior, because the ‘more’ cannot come out of the ‘less’.1 This is of absolute mathematical rigour, against which nothing can prevail. It is important to note that it is precisely the same argument which, applied in another order, also holds against ‘materialism’.2 There is nothing fortuitous in this concordance, and the two things are much more closely bound together than might appear at first glance. It is too obvious that the people cannot confer a power that they do not themselves possess;3 true power can only come from above, and that is why, let us note in passing, it can only be legitimated by the sanction of something superior to the social order, that is to say, by a spiritual authority;4 if it is otherwise, it is only a counterfeit of power, a state of fact that is unjustifiable by default of principle, and where there can be only disorder and confusion. This reversal of all hierarchy begins as soon as temporal power wishes to become independent of spiritual authority, and then to subordinate it to itself by claiming to make it serve political ends;5 here is a first usurpation that opens the way to all the others, and one could thus show that, for example, the French monarchy, from the 14th century onwards, itself worked unconsciously to prepare the Revolution that was to overthrow it;6 perhaps one day we shall have the opportunity to develop this point of view as it deserves, but for the moment we can only indicate it very summarily.
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Summary

Guénon presents the decisive argument against democracy: the superior cannot come from the inferior, as the ‘more’ cannot come from the ‘less’, with absolute mathematical rigour. He notes that the same argument applies equally against materialism, and that the two are closely bound together. It is obvious, he argues, that the people cannot confer a power they do not themselves possess; true power can only come from above and be legitimated by a spiritual authority, otherwise it is a mere counterfeit leading to disorder. This reversal of hierarchy begins when temporal power seeks independence from spiritual authority and then tries to subordinate it; the French monarchy, for example, unconsciously worked from the 14th century onwards to prepare the Revolution that would overthrow it.

General notes

  1. le supérieur ne peut émaner de l’inférieur, le « plus » ne peut pas sortir du « moins » — Rendered as ‘the superior cannot emanate from the inferior, because the “more” cannot come out of the “less”’. Guénon states a fundamental metaphysical principle of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic origin: the cause must be at least equal to its effect, and the inferior cannot produce the superior. This principle is the basis of the traditional critique of both democracy (the people, an inferior quantity, cannot generate qualitatively superior authority) and materialism (inferior matter cannot produce superior spirit). The reference to ‘mathematical rigour’ underlines its apodictic character. ↩︎
  2. « matérialisme » — Rendered as ‘materialism’. Guénon means by this any doctrine that makes matter the first principle and cause of all reality, including spirit, consciousness or intelligence. The causal argument (the ‘more’ cannot come from the ‘less’) invalidates this claim: consciousness cannot emerge from inert matter. This link between the critique of democracy and the critique of materialism shows that these two modern errors proceed from the same misunderstanding of hierarchical principles. ↩︎
  3. le peuple ne peut conférer un pouvoir qu’il ne possède pas lui-même — Rendered as ‘the people cannot confer a power that they do not themselves possess’. Guénon here reduces the foundation of popular sovereignty as conceived by modern democratic doctrine to absurdity. If power ‘comes from below’, it can only be what the people already possess, namely a disordered multitude of individual wills and particular interests. The people do not possess the unity, authority and legitimacy of true power, which are qualities of a superior order; they cannot therefore confer them upon anyone. ↩︎
  4. autorité spirituelle — Rendered as ‘spiritual authority’. Guénon means by this expression the authority that possesses metaphysical and initiatic knowledge, distinct from temporal power (political, royal). In medieval Christendom, this authority is represented by the Roman pontiff; in traditional India, by the caste of brahmins (brāhmaṇa; Guénon writes ‘Brahmanes’; standard transliteration is brāhmaṇa). Spiritual authority is the guardian of the superior principles that condition all temporal legitimacy. ↩︎
  5. pouvoir temporel voulant se rendre indépendant de l’autorité spirituelle, puis se la subordonner — Rendered as ‘temporal power wishes to become independent of spiritual authority, and then to subordinate it to itself’. Guénon describes the two stages of modern usurpation: first, the emancipation of the political from the spiritual (autonomy of the State); second, the enslavement of the spiritual to the political (Caesaropapism, Gallicanism, national Churches). This double usurpation is the true beginning of the hierarchical disorder that culminates in the French Revolution. The first stage (independence) necessarily leads to the second (subordination), for the temporal, once freed from spiritual control, naturally seeks to dominate what it can no longer respect. ↩︎
  6. la royauté française, depuis le XIVe siècle, a travaillé elle-même inconsciemment à préparer la Révolution — Rendered as ‘the French monarchy, from the 14th century onwards, itself worked unconsciously to prepare the Revolution’. Guénon here refers to the history of relations between the French throne and the papacy. From the reign of Philip the Fair (1285-1314), who brought about the installation of the popes at Avignon and the suppression of the Knights Templar, the kings of France progressively weakened the spiritual authority of the Holy See in order to subordinate it to their political interests. This process was accentuated with Gallicanism (the doctrine of the independence of the Church of France from Rome) and royal absolutism. By undermining the sole spiritual instance that legitimated their own power, the kings unconsciously prepared the collapse of the monarchy during the Revolution of 1789. ↩︎