Prof. Mark Sedgwick: An introduction to Traditionalism

The mysterious philosophy of Perennialism has been used and misused since its beginnings in ancient wisdom. Now, with Putin’s war in Ukraine, it is more important than ever to know what it really means. Prof. Mark Sedgwick, historian and author of Traditionalism, joined UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers for this conversation and Q&A.

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// TIMECODES //

00:00 - 02:50 - Introduction
02:50 - 04:13 - Who was Rene Guenon?
04:13 - 05:33 - Who was Julius Evola?
05:33 - 06:25 - Who was Frithjof Schuon?
06:25 - 11:25 - Perennialism: sacred order and the primordial tradition
11:25 - 17:20 - How do Traditionalists view history?
17:20 - 21:37 - Divisions in the Traditionalist movement
21:37 - 27:55 - Perennialism: self-realisation and the path of action
27:55 - 36:20 - Traditionalism and the good life in the modern day
36:20 - 43:24 - Integralists and Traditionalism in current global politics
43:24 - 01:00:35 - Aleksandr Dugin, Russia, and the Ukraine War
01:00:35 - 01:03:53 - Do Traditionalist thinkers actually want to change the world?
01:03:53 - 01:07:48 - Is Steve Bannon a Traditionalist?
01:07:48 - 01:08:58 - Is Mark Sedgwick a Traditionalist?
01:08:58 - 01:10:45 - Concluding thoughts

#UnHerd #MarkSedgwick #Traditionalism

[benjaminnourian]

Remarkable how many times the interviewer describes things as scary or terrifying… tells you a lot about the kind of man western modernity has produced.

[tony_van]

Seriously reading Guenon brings you closer to truth but at that same time alienates you from almost everyone around you.

[Doctor_Manhattan]

their problem with the modern world is the merchant class is above the warrior and the priest class and artisans in this modern era - so materialism is driving the cart - they're not underscoring that well enough it seems, but still a good video

[ImagezAndWords]

No mention of the fact that Dugins daughter was killed by a car bomb in 2022 which was probably intended for him...

[hyperouranios_topos]

"There is really no 'profane realm' that could in any way be opposed to a 'sacred realm', there is only a 'profane point of view', which is really none other than the point of view of ignorance." René Guénon

[hyperouranios_topos]

"The most decisive argument against democracy can be summed up in a few words: the higher cannot emanate from the lower, because the greater cannot come out of the less. This is an absolute mathematical certainty that nothing can gainsay. It is abundantly clear that the people cannot confer a power that they do not themselves possess, true power can only come from above, and this is why it can be legitimized only by the sanction of something which stands above the social order, that is to say by a spiritual authority, for otherwise it is a mere counterfeit of power, unjustifiable through lack of any principle, and in which there can be nothing but disorder and confusion."

René Guénon

[JohnnyMotel]

Basically, the intellect can only look to the past and to the future, but we live in the present and the intellect cannot comprehend that, we can only experience it.

[Markusctfldl]

So many points where Freddy gives the classic bluepill reaction to Traditionalism. "Ah! Sitting in Westminster, this is scary!"
lol, that's the point. Sedgwick didn't do a bad job. Tries to be quite objective, which is nice, and I say this as a Traditionalist. Everybody on the political right should read Guenon's "Crisis of the Modern World". Very accessible and compelling.

[jonathantwort]

I don’t think you can learn anything without quiet calm and order! You have to have a structured ordered society, in order to develop your mental processes. How teachers teach anything in this day and age, with the problems they have with discipline, and just getting the class to listen to them, is beyond me!

[DimmiChaltre]

To my mind, the 'Trump's part' is the least convincing: the prior point Trump doesn't accept modernity and is determined to oppose it both as intellectual and political notion is doubtful and needs somewhat 'deconstructing'.

[Akimcanna]

The worst introduction possible. The first word he said about Guenon is "dead" that is like someone who wants vengeance on a profound scholar. It was all set to say in where Dugins thoughts and Ukraine War is rooted? The most stupid analysis it was. Because anyone who has read even one of the books of Guenon or Schuon would understand how far a modern tyranny like Putin is from the metaphysical doctrine of Traditionalists. So as the Frenchmen put it "Quel est le rapport avec la choucroute ?"

[hyperouranios_topos]

"To say that man is the measure of all things is meaningless unless one starts from the idea that God is the measure of man: nothing is fully human that is not determined by the Divine, and therefore centered on it."

Frithjof Schuon

[viktorg]

As a traditionalist myself I must say it was quite a good(there were some problems/misrepresentations though but minor ones) interview however to unfamiliar ones I would like to point to one major flaw of it: it tried to include range of topics too wide for 1 hour interview leaving an impression of traditionalism as a set of exotic, arbitrary and rather deplorable set of edgy views(with a o pinch of petty egocentrism on the side of traditionalist authors) but it's not the case. Those ideas treated superficially will always appear exotic and arbitrary as they are by their own definition completely detached from the modern mental framework. So to actually understand them they must be approached in methodical top-to-bottom approach. The idea of traditionalism is the idea that the essence of human existence is spiritual self-realization and all other aspects like social system, law etc emanetes from that with consideration of the society's own character. Nobody will have to become Brahmin in England because England was never Hindu in the first place. But the truth about social hierarchy and role of human in society remains valid.

[marvinbecker]

Frithjof Schuon was my greatest Guru. Even though I never met him.

[robertalenrichter]

I actually have some sympathy for a certain kind of traditionalism because I'm a cultural elitist, but I want to raise people up, rather than keep them down. Nowadays, even believing in proper spelling seems to be enough to qualify one as a "traditionalist".

[zenden]

Freddy was really in his fine stride with this excellent interview of Sedgewick.
Thank you.

[joannemoore]

This was fascinating. I have come across Perennialism as part of a part time PhD but did not know about traditionalism as an offshoot of that. Excellent interview. I really enjoy Freddie's calm, reflective, but probing approach.

[MarkJohnson-drws]

Weirdly over-reading Trump . Perhaps not over-reading how Bannon saw him, but certainly over-reading Trump. Trump's goals were and are much more pragmatic.

[ruipedroparada]

it is interesting to come across Traditionalism once again; it was all over the place in 1980s Portugal as I studied Philosophy at the Catholic University (...of all places) in Lisbon. There was an actual transmission of sorts based upon medievalia and the notion of the Fifth Empire, which entails the primacy of the Lusitanians as the great uniters of the globe under a multifarious spiritual enterprise....

[mirmahmood]

Was that Nick Cave at the beginning in the audience?