Synthesis of the Doctrine of Race

by Julius Evola

In Synthesis of the Doctrine of Race Evola sets out his own racial doctrine on the premise of the tripartition of the human being into body, soul, spirit, on the basis of which the connections, correspondences and affinities between the different degrees of race (the corporeal sphere, the soul, and finally the spiritual sphere), are considered by analogy. In the first part, race is seen as a revolutionary idea. The three degrees of race are defined in the second part and elaborated upon in the third one. The fourth part begins with a clear definition of the term “Aryan” and ends with considerations of the racial issue from the point of view of law. Finally, the problem of the rectification of race is approached both on the basis of the principles of the doctrine of race and in a concrete manner.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics

390 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Julius Evola (19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974), born Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola, was an Italian philosopher and esoteric scholar. Born in Rome to a family of the Sicilian landed gentry, Evola was raised a strict Catholic. Despite this, his life was characterised by 'an anti-bourgeois approach' hostile to both 'the dominant tradition of the West—Christianity and Catholicism—and to contemporary civilization—the 'modern world' of democracy and materialism'.

By turns 'engineering student, artillery officer, Dadaist poet and painter, journalist, alpinist, scholar, linguist, Orientalist, and political commentator', he has been described as a 'rare example of universality in an age of specialization'. Yet behind it all lay a singular emphasis on, and pursuit of, a 'direct relationship to the Absolute'. For Evola, 'the center of all things was not man, but rather the Transcendent.' This metaphysical conviction can be seen to have determined both Evola's stance on socio-political issues, and his antipathetic attitude towards 'all professional, sentimental and family routines'.

The author of many books on esoteric, political and religious topics (including The Hermetic Tradition, The Doctrine of Awakening and Eros and the Mysteries of Love), his best-known work remains Revolt Against the Modern World, a trenchant critique of modern civilisation that has been described as 'the gateway to his thought'. Since his death, also in Rome, his writings have influenced right-wing, reactionary and conservative political thought not only in his native Italy, but throughout continental Europe and, increasingly, the English-speaking world. Nevertheless, he should not be considered primarily as a political thinker, but rather as an exponent of the wider Traditionalist School that encompasses the work of such individuals as René Guénon, Titus Burckhardt and Frithjof Schuon.

Reviews

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last hundred pages are appendixes by the translator. Evola's theory is interesting though as he details the reasons why the true supremacy comes not only from blood, but from conduct, will, intelligence, etc. He again calls out the lowest of the races as the Talmudists and the savages.

[Totenkopf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far from the many polemical and partisan writings on the question of race, this one poses the problem in a clear, composed and also critical way, without any obsession for the Jewish question. The appendices, particularly the richly documented critical study of Evola's positions on National Socialist racism, which is in fact more informed than the Italian author was on the issue, are also worth reading.

[Auspex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long awaited in English, and possibly Evola's most controversial work, this book completes the picture as far as the translation of Evola's major works in English is concerned. This book may be considered as a doctrinal sequel to the more expository "Myth of the Blood." Lengthy appendices re-examine Evola's view of National Socialist racial policies, and the early history of the Aryans in India.

[Hank · Rating 5 out of 5]

I detta verk från 1941 Utvecklar Julius Evola sin syn på ras och rasism utifrån ett esoteriskt och Traditionalistiskt perspektiv. Bokens huvudtes är att ras inte enbart är biologiskt eller genetiskt betingad. Evola föreslår att förutom "kroppslig" ras existerar det en "själslig" ras och en "andlig" ras (the race of the body, the race of the soul and the the race of the spirit).

Dessa koncept är inte speciellt lätta att kortfattat summera på ett begripligt sätt men vi ger oss ändå på ett försök. Den kroppsliga delen av ras behöver troligtvis ingen närmare beskrivning då den är förhållandevis välkänd. Den själsliga rasen består av karaktär, stil, känsla och attityd och fungerar som en förbindelse mellan den kroppsliga och själsliga rasen. Den andliga komponenten av ras representerar de högsta spirituella, religiösa och metafysiska aspekterna samt att de två andra delarna av ras på många plan representerar en manifestation av denna (högsta) del.

Utöver bokens huvudtes behandlas ett stort antal näraliggande ämnen på ett kompetent och intressant sätt som skapar en nyttig kontext. Boken innehåller även ett spännande galleri av bilder som Evola kommenterar och kategoriserar. Detta är i vårat tycke en utmärkt och stimulerande bok av som vi givetvis rekommenderar.

Vi avslutar denna korta recension med ett intressant citat från boken:

“Therefore, in summary, if we want to explain it with the views and traditions proper to the civilsations to which it belonged in a rigorous and proven way, the term “Aryan” refers first of all, in general, to a “race of the spirit” of Hyperborean origin engaged in a kind of metaphysical struggle and having in itself a special ideal of the Imperium – the leader, as “king of kings” (Iran); more specifically, in its extreme purity, it includes in the first place the ideal of a high biological purity and a nobility of the race of the body; in the second place the idea of a race of the spirit, of the “solar” type, with the sacred and simultaneously regal and dominating traits: a race of true super-men, in the face of all that is materialistic, evolutionary and “Promethean” in modern concepts of the super-man – even apart from the fact that these are nothing more than “philosophies”, theories and fantasies formulated by people whose race is almost always anything but in order.”