Sentimental Aspirations
René Guénon — Civilization and Progress (6)
“ Now, what is to be thought of the reality of ‘moral progress’? That is a question which is scarcely possible to discuss seriously, because in this realm of sentiment everything depends on individual appreciation and preferences; everyone gives the name ‘progress’ to what is in conformity with his own inclinations, and -in a word- it is impossible to say that one is right any more than another.
Those whose tendencies are in harmony with those of their time cannot be other than satisfied with the present state of things, and this is what they express after their fashion when they say that this epoch marks a progress over those that preceded it.
But often this satisfaction of their sentimental aspirations is only relative, because the sequence of events is not always what they would have wished, and that is why they suppose that the progress will be continued during future epochs.
The facts come sometimes to belie those who are convinced of the present reality of ‘moral progress’, but all they do is modify their ideas a little in this respect, or refer the realization of their ideal to a more or less remote future.
There is indeed a reality which cloaks itself under the so-called ‘moral progress’ - that is the development of ‘sentimentalism’
There is indeed a reality which cloaks itself under the so-called ‘moral progress’, or which -in other words- keeps up the illusion of it; this reality is the development of ‘sentimentalism’, which -whether one likes it or not- does actually exist in the modern world, just as incontestably as does the development of industry and commerce. This development -in our eyes excessive and abnormal- cannot fail to seem a progress to those who put feelings above everything.
If sentiment -considered in general- is to be put into its proper place in relation to intelligence, the case is quite different, because then there is a hierarchy to be observed.
The modern world has precisely reversed the natural relations between the different orders of things: once again, it is depreciation of the intellectual order (and even the absence of pure intellectuality), and exaggeration of the material and sentimental orders, which all go together to make the Western civilization of today an anomaly, not to say a monstrosity. ”
René Guénon — East and West 1924
