Modernity and Tradition. Reflections on the Violence of the Modern Social Mechanism and of Traditionalist "Discourses" from the Perspective of Eric Weil

Abstract

Based on the work of Eric Weil, this article analyses the forms of violence present in the modern social mechanism while exploring the resurgence of traditionalist discourses as prominent elements in contemporary social and political debates. To this end, the text takes up Weil’s reflections on modern society in his Philosophie politique (1956) and his critique of the limits of traditionalist discourses in Tradition et traditionalisme (1953). Ultimately, what is at stake is the condition of the modern individual faced with the problem of determining his freedom in a context of profound and unavoidable changes that characterize our modernity.

 Violence; Competition; Traditionalism; Freedom; Modern individual.