Organizing Empiricism is a political analysis method created byCharles Maurras, inspired bypositivism. This method involves analyzing the present in light of the past to predict societal evolution through psychology and derive principles for action. The application of this positivist doctrine in politics observes historical laws[1][2] and culminates inintegral nationalism.[3] Maurras argued that society's organization and institutions should result from a centuries-long selection process, with monarchy considered optimal for France.
Maurras summarized organizing empiricism as "leveraging the successes of the past for the future every well-born spirit wishes for their country." He also encapsulated the concept in the phrase, "Our teacher in politics is experience."[4][5]
Maurrassian organizing empiricism claims to derive political truths, social laws, and psychological norms from history:
The examination of natural social facts and the analysis of political history lead to certain certainties. The past establishes them, psychology explains them, and the subsequent course of contemporary events confirms them day by day.[6][7]
Through organizing empiricism, Maurras rejected deterministic philosophies, whether optimistic likeMarxism or pessimistic like Guénonism, as well as the democratic idea that the future can be built without regard for the past, based solely on public opinion.[3]
Maurras traced the roots of organizing empiricism toThomism as interpreted byJacques Maritain and, more broadly, thePhilosophia perennis ofSocrates,Plato, andAristotle[citation needed].
He directly drew inspiration from the analytical methods of literary criticSainte-Beuve, coining the term "organizing empiricism." Sainte-Beuve's approach was known for its impartiality, emphasis on experience, and effort to explore contradictions in literary, political, and philosophical currents.[8]
The method also incorporated traditional (ancient and medieval), counter-revolutionary, andpositivist thought, particularly that ofAuguste Comte.[8]
According to writerJacques Paugam,Charles de Gaulle may have employed organizing empiricism in orchestrating the independence ofSub-Saharan Africa.[9]
Organizing empiricism attracted several renowned historians toAction française, includingJacques Bainville,Pierre Gaxotte,Michel Mourre,Philippe Ariès,[3] andPierre Chardon.
