Lecture 'René Guénon: Progress Will Help No One'

The world is changing rapidly, but have you wondered that progress doesn’t always bring happiness and that values seem to be lost? This happens, according to René Guénon, a French philosopher of the 20th century, because people, carried away by development, lost touch with their spiritual roots and lost themselves. Guénon, as an esotericist, believed that the truth capable of saving humanity is kept in traditional teachings of the East and West. Only by turning to them can humanity overcome the current crisis and avoid collapse. In his book “The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Time,” published in 1945, Guénon predicted many phenomena of the 20th and 21st centuries associated with postmodernism: the dominance of technology, standardization, the loss of identity and meaning. However, he also offered his own path out of today’s chaos.

Andrey Makarov has studied Guénon’s ideas in depth, writing many articles about him, including encyclopedic ones. In his lectures, Makarov explains the philosopher’s ideas in an accessible way, turning them into engaging stories that are easy to remember. Makarov’s lectures are an opportunity to change your perspective on the world and find new life guidelines—while listeners can actively participate in discussions and ask questions. Makarov, Doctor of Philosophy and professor, is a well-known cultural scholar who can tell complex topics like logic and philosophy in an engaging way, and he is a regular participant in “Direct Speech.”