East and West: Comparative Studies in Pursuit of Tradition

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 Gué non, 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 Italian Fascism, although he never joined the Party, and his writings on the subject were frequently critical of its reality. After 1945, Evola remained aloof from politics, and attempted to define the most effective stance for an inhabitant of the modern age to adopt while still retaining something of traditional wisdom. In recent years, Evola's ideas have given rise to a new breed of spiritual seekers and anti-modernists.