Visions of Order

Visions of Order: The Cultural Crisis of Our Time by Richard M Weaver, 153 pages

Written fifty years ago, this book addresses issues that are still of vital importance.  Weaver's central argument is that modern society has lost its cultural, poetic, human orientation in favor of a scientistic, dialectic, mechanical materialism.  In this reductionist, utilitarian ethos, means have triumphed over ends, resulting in a loss of meaning and a corresponding objectification of the human person.  The end result of the triumph of logic over poetry is a nihilism which Weaver claims underlies much of modernity, from the concept of total war to the modern educational establishment.

While Visions of Order is, I think, inferior to Weaver's own Ideas Have Consequences, this work covers ground that is sufficiently different from his earlier book to make it a success.  The language is somewhat difficult, and the connection between the chapters is largely thematic.  Some might count it as a deficiency that the book offers no programmatic alternatives, but in this case merely seeing the problem might be considered a sufficient antidote.