{"title":"Philosophy of Civilization","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"greatnessandruin","title":"Greatness and Ruin: Self-Reflection and Universalism within European Civilization","description":"\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eOf all the noteworthy advances and accomplishments in every area of human endeavor, the overwhelming majority have come from one part of the world: Europe and its New World offshoots, collectively referred to as the West. This troublesome fact may be downplayed or deconstructed by the politically correct establishment, but it cannot be credibly denied. The question, then, is \u003cem\u003ewhy\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eGreatness and Ruin\u003c\/em\u003e, maverick scholar Ricardo Duchesne sets out to answer this question, dispelling mainstream academia’s counter-arguments along the way. Demonstrating an extraordinary breadth of scholarship, addressing subjects from music to mathematics, philosophy to furniture design, Duchesne establishes that while other peoples had their share of breakthrough advances at occasions in their histories, the West was the only civilization to produce continuous advancements building upon each other throughout its entire history. He constructs a convincing case that the particular western cultural trait of individualism led to the development of a unique sense of selfhood, producing a culture wherein excellence and ethics are valued more than kinship ties, allowing for a blossoming of creativity and experimentation unparalleled in any other society. This progress has made the West wealthy, industrious, and culturally dominant on a global scale, but also atomized, culturally incoherent, nihilistic, hostile towards its own history, and willing to disrupt its ethnic and racial demographics for short-term economic gain. In short, it has led to our greatness and our ruin. Duchesne argues, however, that the West can retreat from this precipice, tempering the self-destructive, liberal tendency of individualism through historical self-consciousness and a worldview incorporating community and cohesion, while allowing individual creativity to flourish again toward more pro-social ends.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrint Length: \u003c\/strong\u003e655 Pages\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat: \u003c\/strong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Underground Canon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58114173600079,"sku":"UC-BK-CCZ-008","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1025\/7177\/0191\/files\/greatness-and-ruin-cover.jpg?v=1782971336"},{"product_id":"ridethetiger","title":"Ride the Tiger","description":"\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJulius Evola’s final major work, which examines the prototype of the human being who can give absolute meaning to his or her life in a world of dissolution.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e• Presents a powerful criticism of the idols, structures, theories, and illusions of our modern age\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e• Reveals how to transform destructive processes into inner liberation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe organizations and institutions that, in a traditional civilization and society, would have allowed an individual to realize himself completely, to defend the principal values he recognizes as his own, and to structure his life in a clear and unambiguous way, no longer exist in the contemporary world. Everything that has come to predominate in the modern world is the direct antithesis of the world of Tradition, in which a society is ruled by principles that transcend the merely human and transitory.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eRide the Tiger\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e presents an implacable criticism of the idols, structures, theories, and illusions of our dissolute age examined in the light of the inner teachings of indestructible Tradition. Evola identifies the type of human capable of “riding the tiger,” who may transform destructive processes into inner liberation. He offers hope for those who wish to reembrace Traditionalism.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePrint Length: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e242 Pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Hardcover\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Underground Canon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58114182971727,"sku":"UC-BK-PHI-002","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1025\/7177\/0191\/files\/ChatGPT_Image_Jun_4_2C_2026_at_08_58_10_AM.png?v=1782971438"},{"product_id":"revoltagainstthemodernworld","title":"Revolt Against the Modern World","description":"\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith unflinching gaze and uncompromising intensity Julius Evola analyzes the spiritual and cultural malaise at the heart of Western civilization and all that passes for progress in the modern world. As a gadfly, Evola spares no one and nothing in his survey of what we have lost and where we are headed. At turns prophetic and provocative, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eRevolt against the Modern World\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e outlines a profound metaphysics of history and demonstrates how and why we have lost contact with the transcendent dimension of being. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe revolt advocated by Evola does not resemble the familiar protests of either liberals or conservatives. His criticisms are not limited to exposing the mindless nature of consumerism, the march of progress, the rise of technocracy, or the dominance of unalloyed individualism, although these and other subjects come under his scrutiny. Rather, he attempts to trace in space and time the remote causes and processes that have exercised corrosive influence on what he considers to be the higher values, ideals, beliefs, and codes of conduct--the world of Tradition--that are at the foundation of Western civilization and described in the myths and sacred literature of the Indo‑Europeans. Agreeing with the Hindu philosophers that history is the movement of huge cycles and that we are now in the Kali Yuga, the age of dissolution and decadence, Evola finds revolt to be the only logical response for those who oppose the materialism and ritualized meaninglessness of life in the twentieth century. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThrough a sweeping study of the structures, myths, beliefs, and spiritual traditions of the major Western civilizations, the author compares the characteristics of the modern world with those of traditional societies. The domains explored include politics, law, the rise and fall of empires, the history of the Church, the doctrine of the two natures, life and death, social institutions and the caste system, the limits of racial theories, capitalism and communism, relations between the sexes, and the meaning of warriorhood. At every turn Evola challenges the reader’s most cherished assumptions about fundamental aspects of modern life. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrint Length: \u003c\/strong\u003e412 Pages\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat: \u003c\/strong\u003eHardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Underground Canon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58114183594319,"sku":"UC-BK-PHI-001","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1025\/7177\/0191\/files\/ChatGPT_Image_Jun_4_2C_2026_at_08_39_03_AM.webp?v=1782971444"},{"product_id":"menamongtheruins","title":"Men Among the Ruins","description":"\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJulius Evola's masterful overview of the political and social manifestations of our time, the \"age of decline\" known to the Hindus as the Kali Yuga.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e• Reveals the occult war that underlies the crises that have become a prevailing feature of modern life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e• Includes H. T. Hansen's definitive essay on Evola's political life and theory.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eMen Among the Ruins is Evola's frontal assault on the predominant materialism of our time and the mirage of progress. For Evola and other proponents of Traditionalism, we are now living in an age of increasing strife and chaos: the Kali Yuga of the Hindus or the Germanic Ragnarok. In such a time, social decadence is so widespread that it appears as a natural component of all political institutions. Evola argues that the crises that dominate the daily lives of our societies are part of a secret occult war to remove the support of spiritual and traditional values in order to turn man into a passive instrument of the powerful.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eEvola is often regarded as the godfather of contemporary Italian fascism and right-wing radical politics, but attentive examination of the historical record--as provided by H. T. Hanson's definitive introduction--reveals Evola to be a much more complex figure. Though he held extreme right-wing views, he was a fearless critic of the Fascist regime and preferred a caste system based on spirituality and intellect to the biological racism championed by the Nazis. Ultimately, he viewed the forces of history as comprised by two factions: \"history's demolition squad\" enslaved by blind faith in the future and those individuals whose watchword is Tradition. These latter stand in this world of ruins at a higher level and are capable of letting go of what needs to be abandoned in order that what is truly essential not be compromised.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrint Length:\u003c\/strong\u003e 328 Pages\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat\u003c\/strong\u003e: Paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Underground Canon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58114184118607,"sku":"UC-BK-PHI-003","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1025\/7177\/0191\/files\/ChatGPT_Image_Jun_4_2C_2026_at_08_52_10_AM.webp?v=1782971452"},{"product_id":"thedeclineofthewestvolume1","title":"The Decline of the West, Vol 1","description":"\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eThe first volume of Oswald Spengler’s \u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Decline of the West\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is a classic milestone in the annals of historiography. However, it is not a history book in the traditional sense of recounting events in chronological order. Instead, it tries to explain the mechanisms that make different cultures tick. While classical culture had no concept of the past or future and was only fixated on the present, Western culture is focused on both the past as memory and the future as unconquered territory.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eLike organisms that are born, mature and eventually die, cultures are the blossoming youth while civilizations usher in senility, decay and demise. When a culture becomes a civilization, decadence sets in and the ensuing downward spiral becomes a Faustian whirlwind of self-destruction. This is inevitable as we can see that each culture’s evolution has its parallels in other periods of human history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eThe endgame for the West has already begun. It is in terminal decline, desperately trying to revive the dead forms and buried traditions that animated its Promethean spirit in its youthful heyday of exuberance. But in old age, it all seems preposterous, and hence in vain as the West has become tired of itself and unable to innovate in either the arts or philosophy. The West is on its way to the grave and what will see the light next must necessarily be something completely new and not just a corpse reanimated.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat: \u003c\/strong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Underground Canon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58114185265487,"sku":"UC-BK-PHI-014","price":32.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1025\/7177\/0191\/files\/decline-of-the-west-vol1-cover.webp?v=1782971464"},{"product_id":"thedeclineofthewestvolume2","title":"The Decline of the West, Vol 2","description":"\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eIn the second and more controversial, albeit optimistic, volume of \u003cspan\u003eThe Decline of the West\u003c\/span\u003e, Oswald Spengler deals with the world historical perspectives of his comparative cultural morphology. The periodical calm surrounding the constant and eternally recurring movements, described in the first volume, is over. Spengler develops his theory of “Caesarism” – a tendency towards dictatorship peculiar to mass democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eAccording to Spengler, today we live in the decadent stage of civilization. Previously, the people of culture used money for buying and selling while their main thoughts and occupations lay elsewhere. The people of civilization, however, exclusively think in terms of money and nothing else. That is why our period is also marked by rapacious oligarchs, cunning stock market manipulation, a flourishing art trade and boundless corruption. Only the return of the eternal values of blood and race, through the coming of the Caesars, can destroy the tyranny of the financial mind. Thus Caesarism will bring the victory of strength politics over capital, breaking the pecuniary power and promoting national welfare.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003eThe scene is set for the final battle between the forces of plutocracy and chaos and the political will and order of the Caesars.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start; ; white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Underground Canon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58114185691471,"sku":"UC-BK-PHI-015","price":34.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1025\/7177\/0191\/files\/decline-of-the-west-vol2.webp?v=1782971470"},{"product_id":"whatswrongwiththeworld","title":"What’s Wrong With the World","description":"\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the aptly titled treatise \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhat's Wrong With the World\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, one of the twentieth century's most memorable and prolific writers takes on education, government, big business, feminism, and a host of other topics. A steadfast champion of the working man, family, and faith, Chesterton eloquently opposed materialism, snobbery, hypocrisy, and any adversary of freedom and simplicity in modern society.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCulled from the thousands of essays he contributed to newspapers and periodicals over his lifetime, the critical works collected for this edition pulse with the author's unique brand of clever commentary. As readable and rewarding today as when they were written over a century ago, these pieces offer Chesterton's unparalleled analysis of contemporary ideals, his incisive critique of modern efficiency, and his humorous but heartfelt defense of the common man against trendsetting social assaults.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePrint Length:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e 216 Pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Paperback\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Underground Canon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58114193293647,"sku":"UC-BK-PHI-021","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1025\/7177\/0191\/files\/what_27s-wrong-with-the-world-cover.webp?v=1782971561"}],"url":"https:\/\/undergroundcanon.com\/collections\/philosophy-of-civilization.oembed","provider":"Underground Canon","version":"1.0","type":"link"}