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THE UNRAVELLING OF INTELLIGIBILITY - Elements of Modernity: Volume One: "The Civilisation of Liberal, Universal Modernity, Neutral & Scientific"
168 pages, Paperback
Published November 25, 2024
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April 6, 2025
This book, the first of the planned five, explores the inevitable unravelling of the modern and postmodern world. The series would be his attempt in polemics, or as he termed it, “applied metaphysics”—a stage where he delivered such a scathing anathema against Western ideals.
The book has some Nietzschean undertones in terms of its apocalyptic prose, but also offers an acute warning to the West about their impending second demolishing of values. Previously, it was their abandonment of Christian values in favor of modern, Protestant ethics. But now, the Western people are simply fatigued by their predecessors’ superman obsessions—creating more and more values in place of the vacuum left by the Divine. Yet there is simply nothing that cushions their free fall into the Abyss; thus, they can only find lukewarm solace in newfound radical and populist nationalism and fundamentalism.
The author listed the Western ideals under the acronym COLUMNS: Civilization of Liberal, Universal Modernity, Neutral and Scientific. Under the aegis of COLUMNS, there are five “severances” or dichotomies that characterize the dualistic Western mind: law vs. spirit, spiritual power vs. temporal power, faith vs. reason, natural world vs. knowing subject, and morality vs. ontology.
The author criticized the conceptualization of Western ideals as universal a priori ideas, while in reality, they are the product of a particular philosophical attitude. The West is essentially dualistic in temperament; under such a worldview, they are inclined to be neutral in their ideas and beliefs because the dual options are placed equidistant from them. So, like Buridan’s donkey who would starve itself to death because it cannot choose between two identical (neutral) piles placed equally from it, the Westerner would prefer to remain emaciated rather than commit to a transcendental ideal of unity.
The book has some Nietzschean undertones in terms of its apocalyptic prose, but also offers an acute warning to the West about their impending second demolishing of values. Previously, it was their abandonment of Christian values in favor of modern, Protestant ethics. But now, the Western people are simply fatigued by their predecessors’ superman obsessions—creating more and more values in place of the vacuum left by the Divine. Yet there is simply nothing that cushions their free fall into the Abyss; thus, they can only find lukewarm solace in newfound radical and populist nationalism and fundamentalism.
The author listed the Western ideals under the acronym COLUMNS: Civilization of Liberal, Universal Modernity, Neutral and Scientific. Under the aegis of COLUMNS, there are five “severances” or dichotomies that characterize the dualistic Western mind: law vs. spirit, spiritual power vs. temporal power, faith vs. reason, natural world vs. knowing subject, and morality vs. ontology.
The author criticized the conceptualization of Western ideals as universal a priori ideas, while in reality, they are the product of a particular philosophical attitude. The West is essentially dualistic in temperament; under such a worldview, they are inclined to be neutral in their ideas and beliefs because the dual options are placed equidistant from them. So, like Buridan’s donkey who would starve itself to death because it cannot choose between two identical (neutral) piles placed equally from it, the Westerner would prefer to remain emaciated rather than commit to a transcendental ideal of unity.
March 4, 2025
Applied metaphysics at its finest
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews