Recognitions: Studies on Men and Problems from the Perspective of the Right

This volume contains a rich collection of Julius Evola’s late essays. Distilling the work of a lifetime, these essays, despite the great diversity of their subjects, all depart from Evola’s basic and intransigent principles. From a consideration of specific personalities, such as Donoso Cortés, Vilfredo Pareto, Joseph de Maistre, Metternich, Michelstaedter, and Henry Miller, to the investigation of an entire series of problems, such as the “revolution from the heights,” the “twilight of the East,” the myth of the West, political versus biological youth, and the emergence of the Fifth Estate, this book also includes doctrinal analyses of Zen Buddhism, the so-called Left-Hand Path, the “myth of the future regality,” neo-realism, and the “fetish for magic” — analyses which delve atimes also into the past, as in the evocation of Emperor Julian, the indication of the significance which the Sibylline Books had in Ancient Rome, and the investigation into the mysteries of Mithras. The material herein is wide and various, but in all cases of perennial interest, and Evola’s treatment brings essential normative values to the fore — values which might serve for the interior and spiritual formation of a new generation.

Julius Evola (1898-1974) has been one of the most misunderstood and controversial authors of the twentieth century. Born in Rome, Evola began his pursuit of truth as a Dadaist painter and an Idealist philosopher, but quickly lost his taste for modernism and moved on to metaphysics, religion, and the occult. Encountering the work of René Guénon, who became a lifelong friend, Evola embraced his concept of the Primordial Tradition and his critique of the modern world. Believing that Tradition was an idea which should encompass the social as well as the spiritual world, Evola saw some hope for a remedy to the ills of modernity in Fascism, although he never joined the Party, and his writings on the subject were frequently critical. After 1945, Evola remained aloof from politics, and attempted to define the most effective stance for an inhabitant of the modern age to adopt and still retain something of traditional wisdom. In recent years, Evola's ideas have given rise to a new breed of spiritual seekers and anti-modernists. Apart from the present volume, Arktos has published his books Metaphysics of War, which is a collection of his essays from the 1930s and '40s; The Path of Cinnabar, which is his intellectual autobiography; as well as his post-war assessments of the fascist phenomenon, Fascism Viewed from the Right, Notes on the Third Reich, A Traditionalist Confronts Fascism, and A Handbook for Right-Wing Youth.