ABSTRACT

Perennialism, as here understood, is a school of thought which emerged from the writings of René Guénon (1886–1951), the remarkable French intellectual and metaphysician, sometimes misleadingly described as an “occultist” or “orientalist.” Since the time of Guénon’s first writings, in the early twentieth century, a significant perennialist movement (sometimes called “traditionalism”) has developed. Guénon, Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877–1947) and Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) are recognized as its most authoritative exponents. Other leading figures include Titus Burckhardt, Marco Pallis, Martin Lings, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr (see Oldmeadow, K. 2000; Oldmeadow, H. 2010). These writers are committed to the explication of the sophia perennis which lies at the heart of the diverse religions and behind the manifold forms of the world’s different traditions. At the same time, unlike many others who espouse some sort of “perennial philosophy” – Aldous Huxley, for instance – they are dedicated to the illumination and preservation of the traditional forms which give each religious heritage its distinctive character and guarantee its formal integrity and, by the same token, ensure its spiritual efficacy. In other words they have insisted on the incalculable value of tradition and of religious orthodoxy.