¶3 Therefore, if one says that the modern world is undergoing a crisis, what is most usually meant by this is that it has reached a critical point, or, in other words, that a more or less profound transformation is imminent, that a change of orientation must inevitably take place in the near future, whether willingly or forcibly, in a more or less abrupt manner, with or without catastrophe.1 This meaning is perfectly legitimate and corresponds well to a part of what we ourselves think, but only to a part, because for us, and placing ourselves at a more general point of view, it is the whole modern epoch, in its entirety, which represents for the world a period of crisis;2 moreover, it seems that we are approaching the denouement, and this is what makes more perceptible today than ever the abnormal character of this state of affairs which has lasted for some centuries, but the consequences of which had not yet been as visible as they are now.3 This is also why events are unfolding with that accelerated speed to which we alluded at the beginning;4 no doubt, this can continue for some time yet, but not indefinitely; and even without being able to assign a precise limit, one has the impression that this cannot last much longer.5
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progressapauruṣeya

Summary

Guénon explains that the usual meaning of ‘crisis’ is that the modern world has reached a critical point requiring an imminent transformation. He considers this definition legitimate but partial. For him, the entire modern epoch itself represents a period of crisis. He believes the denouement is approaching, making the abnormal character of this centuries-long situation more visible than ever. This explains the accelerating pace of events. This may continue for some time, but not indefinitely, and the impression is that it cannot last much longer.

General notes

  1. point critique … transformation imminente — Rendered as 'critical point … imminent transformation'. Guénon here accepts the ordinary sense of the word 'crisis' (a moment of decision, a tipping point), but he will integrate it into a wider perspective. For him, the crisis is not a passing accident in an otherwise healthy civilisation; it is the normal state of the entire modern epoch, considered as a terminal phase of the Kali-Yuga. What is usually taken for a particular crisis (economic, political, social) is only the local manifestation of a chronic and general sickness. The idea of an imminent transformation (among which modern catastrophists include wars, collapses, etc.) is correct, but incomplete, because it does not see that the necessary transformation is first of all spiritual and intellectual: a return to principles from which modernity has cut itself off. ↩︎
  2. toute l'époque moderne … représente une période de crise — Rendered as 'the whole modern epoch … represents a period of crisis'. Guénon here radically shifts the perspective. It is not the modern world that is undergoing a crisis; it is modernity itself that is the crisis. Understood as the ensemble of tendencies that appeared with the Renaissance (individualism, materialism, forgetfulness of metaphysical principles, negation of spiritual authority, idolatry of progress), modern civilisation is by its very essence an anomaly in the history of cycles. Whereas traditional civilisations were inscribed in a stable and hierarchical order, modernity is defined by perpetual change, rupture and the absence of transcendent principle. To see the crisis as an accident is still to remain within the modernist illusion; to understand that modernity itself is the crisis is to begin to free oneself from it. ↩︎
  3. caractère anormal — Rendered as 'abnormal character'. Guénon uses 'abnormal' in the sense of a deviation from the traditional norm, not in relation to a statistical average. A society without transcendent principles, without metaphysics, without spiritual hierarchy, devoted to change for its own sake and to material accumulation, is an anomaly in the history of human civilisations. The recent worsening (20th century) of phenomena of chaos, violence, and the dissolution of landmarks makes this anomaly more visible, even to those who possess no traditional criteria. ↩︎
  4. vitesse accélérée — Rendered as 'accelerated speed'. Guénon returns to the physical metaphor of acceleration, already evoked in the preface. This acceleration is not accidental: it is the direct consequence of the absence of a fixed principle. In a traditional society, rhythm is regulated by natural and spiritual cycles; in modernity, the absence of a stable centre produces a frenetic race forward, each innovation calling for another, faster one. The impression of 'time speeding up' is a symptom of cyclical decay, not of progress. ↩︎
  5. cela ne peut plus durer très longtemps — Rendered as 'this cannot last much longer'. Guénon does not fix a date (he refuses chronological prophecies), but he affirms that the very rhythm of acceleration makes a near end inevitable. This is not the end of the world, but the possible end of Western civilisation as a historical entity. What follows will depend on the capacity of a minority to preserve and transmit traditional principles, in view of a future cyclical re-adaptation. ↩︎