RE: [evola_as_he_is] Elements of Racial Education -- Chap 5
In this chapter – “Race and
Nation” – Evola clarifies the distinction between race and nation.
By “race”, Evola means
something more specific and individuated than the broad-brush categories of “white,
black, red, and yellow”. He compares race in this sense to chemical
elements. Nations or peoples would thus be various compositions of such
elements. This leads Evola to answer this important question: “What
relation exists then between the national idea and the racial idea?”
Since race appears both in the body and
the spirit, the cultural, artistic, religious and ethical forms are therefore manifestations
of the spirit and soul of the race. To see how this appears in a nation, Evola
tackles the problem of heterogeneous racial crosses. This results in the
distortion in the descendants of the characteristic traits of the related pure
types. A more serious problem can result in the case where the race of the body
differs from the race of the soul in some descendants, resulting in an inner
fragmentation. These issues may not always be immediately obvious because of
dominant and recessive genes; this means that the recessive quality may appear
unexpectedly. In the human case (as opposed to mere plants and animals), due to
the spiritual factor of race, the dominant quality may fail to manifest in the
absence of a racial consciousness.
Evola opposes the democratic concept of
nation, in which the various spiritual and biological races are kept in
balance, to the racist concept of nation, in which the leadership consists of
an elite, representing the most valid and worthiest elements. In the course of
history, a nation, which had its origins in a relatively pure race, has undergone
various weakenings. However, in any such composition nation, there has been and
remains a superior race. The most racially valid part of a nation must strive
to maintain itself.
Evola then applies this idea to Fascism,
in which the state is the instrument of a political elite, which is “meant
to reassume the heritage of the higher race and tradition existing in the
national composite.” And to be specific: “the suprarace of the
Italian nation is the race of Rome.”
My comment: This appears to represent a
major divergence between Evola and Guénon. In “The Crisis of the Modern World”,
Guénon looks for a spiritual – not a racial – elite to arise. This
elite will bring an understanding of a metaphysic, best represented by the
Vedanta, and not a specifically racial consciousness to bear on the nation (or
the West as a whole, in Guénon’s case).
Obviously, it was a rhetorical suggestion, not necessarily to be taken literally. Presumably, the point of writing books - and even personal discussions - is...
In this chapter – “Race and Nation†– Evola clarifies the distinction between race and nation. By “raceâ€, Evola means something more specific and...
In this section - "Meaning of Racial Prophylaxis" - Evola suggests some actions required by the situation of impure races in the nations (a topic addressed in...
In this section, "The Danger of Counter-Selection", Evola continues the discussion of "racial prophylaxis". He mentions the need for a precise racial ideal...
Evola now expands on his understanding of race in this chapter entitled "Spirit and Race". Evola accepts the traditional tripartite understanding of man and is...
Chapter 9, "Importance of the Theory of the Inner Races", may serve to begin to clarify precisely what Evola is "seeing". The fundamental doctrine of this...
This is how Evola describes the man of race: Soul: The soul experiences the world the world as something before which it takes a stand actively, which regards...
Chapter 10 is titled "The Face of the Various Races". Evola explains that the broad racial categories of white, black, yellow, red, etc. do not suffice. He...
In this chapter, "The Problem of Spiritual Races", we reach the core of Evola's project. As previously mentioned, race manifests itself not only in body and...
This chapter holds the key to everything Evola. It is clear that he opposes the Enlightenment ideal that reason and the empirical sciences will create a body...
After scrutinizing the multitude of previous posts on this list, I feel (suprarationally) that I am now reasonably up to date with the progression through the...
Evola refers to the traditional distinction between soul and spirit in countless occasions, and explains it, from 'Revolt against the Modern World' to 'The...
This is why it is helpful to have the text ready at hand, rather than to rely on a summary. The race of the soul is "connected to life", that is, the "quality...
Everybody knows the hermetic transposition of body, soul and spirit was sulphur-salt-mercury, while in the Olympian hierarchy are the three divine brothers,...
The title of Chapter 12 is "Races and Origins" in which Evola points out the importance of the study of origins and prehistory. But first, he must dispose of...
I do not know how much reliable, but here is an evolian solstice thought on 'ex oriente lux': S. H. Nasr refers that when he met Evola in Rome and asked about...
Evola certainly did not show the leniency you are displaying towards the current Italian people, since he added that post-war Italy had become the kingdom of...
I thank the owner to quote the Evola's reference to pizza and gondolas: now I feel more at home here, but my intention was only to point out the uselessness of...
In several places, Evola explains what he means by "seeing", or direct intuitive knowledge of reality. He opposes this type of knowing to its alternatives: the...
In Hinduism the term for this type of 'sight' (applicable only in a metaphorical sense and not a direct epistemological one) is Darsana. This is the type of...
In this chapter entitled "Nordic-Western Migrations", Evola introduces a fundamental theme of his doctrine of race, viz., that the primordial origin of the...
Evola clarifies "the Problem of "Latinity" in this chapter. He takes pains to dispel the idea of "Latinity" as applied to Italy at that time. The Latin myth is...
Chapter 15 is entitled "Race, Romanity and Italian History". Here, Evola enunciates the principle that "in order to progress form racial theory to practice,...
This is the full passage: "In the Middle Ages, as is well known, the Church tried hard to resuscitate the supranational symbol by combining with it the ideas...
I see: it depends on the quibbles in translating. Since the verb "to produce" is not present in the original, I read better the sentence this way: "combining...
First, Evola is not used to being 'allusive', especially in his political or racial works. Second, the Italian 'ingegnarsi' is the precise equivalent to the...
In chapter 16, "The Type of our Super-Race", Evola goes into some detail regarding the characteristics of the Roman-Aryan man, which is the 'super-race' from...
This may seem overly pedantic, but why does Evola feel it necessary to ascribe a set of given physical attributes to the 'man of race'? Does this mean that a...