Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy

A Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy is a philosophy that rejects enlightenment principles (emphasizing tradition, particularity, and historicism over reason, universalism, and abstract principles).

• AKA: Anti-Enlightenment Thought, Traditionalist Philosophy, Anti-Rationalist Philosophy.
• Context:
  • It can typically reject Universal Reason through cultural relativism and contextual knowledge.
  • It can typically prioritize Historical Tradition over abstract principles and theoretical frameworks.
  • It can typically emphasize Community over individual autonomy and rights-based discourse.
  • It can typically value Particularity over universalism in cultural expression and political arrangements.
  • It can typically promote Religious Faith against secular rationalism and materialist worldviews.
  • It can typically defend Organic Social Structure against social engineering and rationalistic reform.
  • It can typically critique Enlightenment Progress Narrative through cyclical history models and decline theory.
  • ...
  • It can often critique Liberal Democracy through anti-egalitarian arguments and hierarchy defense.
  • It can often oppose Scientific Materialism through metaphysical appeals and spiritual dimension advocacy.
  • It can often challenge Modern Progressive Values through traditional moral frameworks and virtue ethics.
  • It can often reject Enlightenment Cosmopolitanism in favor of national identity and cultural rootedness.
  • It can often question Technological Progress through humanistic critiques and ecological concerns.
  • It can often dispute Secular State arrangements through religious integration arguments.
  • It can often emphasize Aesthetic Experience over scientific understanding in knowledge acquisition.
  • It can often criticize Mass Society through qualitative distinctions and aristocratic principles.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Mild Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy to being a Radical Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy, depending on its opposition intensity and political implications.
  • It can range from being a Religious Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy to being a Secular Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy, depending on its metaphysical foundation and theological orientation.
  • It can range from being a Conservative Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy to being a Revolutionary Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy, depending on its political orientation and social vision.
  • It can range from being an Aesthetic Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy to being a Political Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy, depending on its cultural emphasis and practical application.
  • It can range from being a Reactionary Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy to being a Reformist Counter-Enlightenment Philosophy, depending on its historical attitude and prescriptive intensity.
  • ...
  • It can influence Political Movements through traditionalist principles and communitarian values.
  • It can shape Cultural Expression through romantic sensibility and artistic traditionalism.
  • It can inform Religious Revival through anti-secularist arguments and transcendent value assertion.
  • It can inspire Nationalistic Movements through cultural particularism and historical identity.
  • It can provide Environmental Critique through holistic ecology and anti-industrial sentiments.
  • It can support Educational Alternatives through classical pedagogy and virtue formation.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Counter-Enlightenment Philosophical Movements, such as:
    • Sturm und Drang, rejecting enlightenment rationalism through emotional expressiveness and subjective experience.
    • Romanticism, emphasizing emotion, intuition, and national identity against mechanical universe.
    • Traditionalism, advocating for perennial wisdom and religious tradition against modern deviation.
    • Historicism, stressing the historical development of social institutions over abstract theory.
    • Religious Traditionalism, defending religious authority against secular rationalism and theological liberalism.
    • Vitalism, promoting living principles against mechanistic reductions of life and consciousness.
    • Organicism, conceiving society and nature as living wholes rather than mechanical aggregates.
    • Counter-Revolutionary Thought, opposing the french revolution and its enlightenment foundations.
  • Counter-Enlightenment Philosophers by Historical Period, such as:
    • 18th Century Counter-Enlightenment Thinkers, such as:
      • Johann Georg Hamann, critiquing kantian rationalism through language philosophy and faith defense.
      • Johann Gottfried Herder, emphasizing cultural particularism and folk traditions against universal standards.
      • Giambattista Vico, developing historical relativism against cartesian universalism and ahistorical reason.
      • Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, defending faith and feeling against abstract reason and systematic philosophy.
      • Edmund Burke, advocating for gradual change based on historical precedent and social prejudice.
      • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, opposing analytical dissection through holistic natural philosophy.
    • 19th Century Counter-Enlightenment Thinkers, such as:
      • Joseph de Maistre, defending monarchy and catholicism against revolutionary ideals and popular sovereignty.
      • Louis de Bonald, promoting divine social order against contractual society and individualist philosophy.
      • Antoine de Rivarol, arguing that sovereign consultation leads to political instability and social dissolution.
      • Juan Donoso Cortés, advocating for theological politics against liberal democracy and secular state.
      • Friedrich Nietzsche, critiquing enlightenment morality through genealogical analysis and will to power.
      • Søren Kierkegaard, challenging hegelian rationalism through existential philosophy and christian faith.
      • Fyodor Dostoevsky, opposing utilitarian rationalism through spiritual depth and orthodox christianity.
    • 20th Century Counter-Enlightenment Thinkers, such as:
      • Julius Evola, promoting radical traditionalism and spiritual aristocracy against modern decadence.
      • René Guénon, advocating for perennial tradition against modern degradation and spiritual crisis.
      • Carl Schmitt, critiquing liberal legalism through political realism and decisionist theory.
      • Leo Strauss, examining enlightenment contradictions and philosophical esotericism within classical tradition.
      • Alasdair MacIntyre, criticizing liberal individualism through virtue ethics and communitarian philosophy.
      • Eric Voegelin, analyzing modern gnosticism within political ideology and immanentist philosophy.
      • Martin Heidegger, challenging technological enframing through ontological questioning.
  • Counter-Enlightenment Analysis Frameworks, such as:
    • Isaiah Berlin's Counter-Enlightenment Framework, identifying three counter-currents:
      • French Theocratic Counter-Enlightenment, emphasizing divine authority over human reason.
      • German Romantic Counter-Enlightenment, promoting cultural particularism against universalism.
      • Italian Historical Counter-Enlightenment, focusing on cultural development rather than abstract principles.
    • Zeev Sternhell's Analysis, tracing counter-enlightenment genealogy to modern anti-liberalism and fascist thought.
    • Graeme Garrard's Framework, examining counter-enlightenment diversity across national contexts and intellectual traditions.
    • Darrin McMahon's Perspective, exploring counter-enlightenment catholicism as intellectual resistance.
    • Frederick Beiser's Interpretation, analyzing german romanticism as philosophical counter-movement.
  • Counter-Enlightenment Opposition Frameworks, such as:
    • Particularism vs. Universalism, rejecting universal human nature for cultural specificity and historical context.
    • Traditionalism vs. Progressivism, valuing historical institutions over rational reform and innovative solutions.
    • Community vs. Individualism, prioritizing collective identity above individual rights and personal autonomy.
    • Faith vs. Reason, elevating religious belief and intuition above rational analysis and scientific method.
    • Organic Society vs. Social Contract, viewing society as natural growth rather than deliberate construction.
    • Authority vs. Liberty, defending hierarchical order against egalitarian ideals and democratic rule.
    • Locality vs. Cosmopolitanism, championing regional attachment over global citizenship and universal principles.
    • Qualitative vs. Quantitative, emphasizing value distinctions over mathematical equality and numerical analysis.
  • Counter-Enlightenment Political Theorys, such as:
    • Organic Conservatism, emphasizing social hierarchy and natural order against egalitarian reform.
    • Theological Politics, basing political authority on divine law rather than popular consent.
    • Cultural Nationalism, prioritizing national particularity over universal rights and global governance.
    • Legitimism, supporting monarchical restoration against revolutionary politics and democratic legitimacy.
    • Traditionalist Corporatism, organizing society through natural social bodies rather than individual contracts.
    • Agrarian Traditionalism, defending rural life against urban modernity and industrial progress.
    • Aristocratic Elitism, advocating for natural nobility over democratic mediocrity and mass culture.
  • Counter-Enlightenment Modern Influences, such as:
    • National Conservatism, rejecting liberal universalism for cultural tradition and political sovereignty.
    • Radical Traditionalism, seeking spiritual renewal through pre-modern values and traditional practices.
    • Communitarian Philosophy, critiquing liberal individualism through community emphasis and shared good.
    • Postcolonial Critique, challenging western universalism through cultural perspectives and alternative epistemology.
    • Religious Integralism, advocating for faith-based social order against secular liberalism and moral relativism.
    • Deep Ecology, opposing enlightenment anthropocentrism through ecological holism and biocentric values.
    • Dark Enlightenment Movement, rejecting democratic principles for hierarchical governance and technological acceleration.
    • Identitarian Movement, defending cultural particularity against multicultural society and globalist tendency.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Postmodern Philosophy, which critiques enlightenment rationality but typically rejects tradition and hierarchy rather than embracing them.
  • Religious Fundamentalism, which opposes secular modernity but lacks the philosophical sophistication of counter-enlightenment thought.
  • Conservative Liberalism, which accepts many enlightenment values while advocating for social stability and gradual reform.
  • Scientific Skepticism, which questions scientific claims through empirical methods rather than through appeals to tradition or revelation.
  • Anarcho-Primitivism, which rejects modern technology but from a radical egalitarian rather than traditional hierarchical perspective.
  • Progressive Theology, which maintains religious commitments while embracing enlightenment values of reason and social progress.
  • Classical Liberalism, which represents the enlightenment political tradition through individual rights and limited government.
  • Marxism, which critiques bourgeois liberalism while remaining firmly within the enlightenment progress narrative.
• See: Enlightenment Philosophy, Conservatism, Traditionalism, Romanticism, Anti-Modernism, Reactionary Thought, Nationalism, Religious Revival, Historicism, Dark Enlightenment, Perennial Philosophy, Irrationalism, Communitarianism.

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References

2024

• (Compagnon, 2024) ⇒ Antoine Compagnon. "The Anti-Moderns: From Joseph de Maistre to Roland Barthes." Princeton University Press.

  * NOTE: Examines how various thinkers positioned as anti-modern actually engaged with modernity in complex ways while critiquing enlightenment rationalism.

2020

• (Warren, 2020) ⇒ Mark Warren. "Counter-Enlightenment and Romantic Nationalism." In "The Cambridge History of Nationalism." Cambridge University Press.

  * NOTE: Explores the connection between counter-enlightenment thought and the development of romantic nationalism in European intellectual history.

2017

• (McMahon, 2017) ⇒ Darrin McMahon. "Enemies of the Enlightenment and the Making of Modernity." Oxford University Press.

  * NOTE: Analyzes how counter-enlightenment thinkers, particularly Catholic intellectuals, shaped modern political thought through their critiques of enlightenment principles.

2006

• (Garrard, 2006) ⇒ Graeme Garrard. "Counter-Enlightenments: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present." Routledge.

  * NOTE: Provides a comprehensive study of different counter-enlightenment traditions across national contexts and historical periods.

2001

• (Berlin, 2001) ⇒ Isaiah Berlin. "Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas." Princeton University Press.

  * NOTE: Contains Berlin's influential essays on counter-enlightenment figures such as Vico, Hamann, and Herder, establishing the concept of the Counter-Enlightenment as a distinct intellectual tradition.

1997

• (Sternhell, 1997) ⇒ Zeev Sternhell. "The Anti-Enlightenment Tradition." Yale University Press.

  * NOTE: Traces the genealogy of counter-enlightenment thought from the 18th century to modern anti-liberalism and its influence on 20th century political movements.

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