René Guénon, Olavo de Carvalho and the formation of a metapolitical intellectual elite

Abstract

The French metaphysician René Guénon and the Brazilian writer Olavo de Carvalho shared the same diagnosis of the western’s civilization crisis. They identified its origin in the birth of the modern world. For them, the scientific and philosophical currents that emerged from the Renaissance have shaken the spiritual world and degraded contemporary culture. Not only was the diagnosis shared, but the remedy for restoring tradition was also common. Guénon and Carvalho considered forming a new intellectual elite essential to perform a spiritual renovation. In this regard, they proposed a pedagogical program that mobilized different superstructures: salons and journals, in the French case, courses and social networks in the Brazilian one. The outcomes, however, are quite different. While Guénon’s ideas penetrated the high culture of the time, Carvalho has always remained at its margins.