These thinkers explicitly critique democracy, liberalism, and modernity from a monarchist/aristocratic perspective.
Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821) – The Counter-Revolutionary
Essential Works:
- Considerations on France – Counter-Enlightenment critique
- The Executioner – Violence and sovereignty
- Essay on the Generative Principle of Political Constitutions – Divine foundation of authority
Key Ideas:
- Throne and Altar – Political authority must be grounded in religious truth
- Original sin and human corruption – Democracy assumes goodness; monarchism assumes fallenness
- The Executioner – Violence is necessary to maintain order; sovereignty requires the sword
Why Essential: De Maistre is the founder of reactionary political philosophy. He's the intellectual godfather of the entire anti-Enlightenment tradition.
Juan Donoso Cortés (1809-1853) – The Catholic Reactionary
Essential Works:
- Essay on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism
- Letter to Cardinal Fornari on the Errors of Our Time
Key Ideas:
- Dictatorship vs. anarchy – When order collapses, only dictatorship can restore it
- Catholicism or chaos – Without divine authority, society devolves into totalitarianism
- Liberalism as gateway to socialism – Democracy inevitably leads to state tyranny
Why Essential: Donoso Cortés diagnoses the political theology problem: secular democracy has no foundation for authority, so it collapses into nihilism or totalitarianism.
Charles Maurras (1868-1952) – Integralist Nationalism
Essential Works:
- Enquiry into Monarchy – Case for restoration of French monarchy
- The Future of Intelligence – Critique of modern intellectuals
Key Ideas:
- Integral nationalism – Nation as organic unity, not democratic abstraction
- Monarchy as natural order – Hereditary kingship provides stability and continuity
- Politique d'abord – Politics first; restore order, then address spiritual questions
Why Essential: Maurras shows how nationalism and monarchism can be combined in a coherent political program (though his influence on French fascism is controversial).
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (1909-1999) – Catholic Monarchist
Essential Works:
- Liberty or Equality – Democracy vs. aristocracy, freedom vs. equality
- Leftism Revisited – Comprehensive critique of egalitarianism
- The Menace of the Herd – Mass society and loss of individuality
Key Ideas:
- Monarchy protects liberty – Kings defend individual freedom against democratic mob rule
- Equality vs. liberty – You can have one or the other, not both
- Democracy as soft totalitarianism – Mass democracy leads to conformity and state control
Why Essential: Kuehnelt-Leddihn is one of the most sophisticated philosophical defenses of monarchy in the 20th century. He's not nostalgic—he's making a rigorous argument.
Integralism & Catholic Monarchism
These thinkers argue for the integration of Church and State under divine authority.
Adrian Vermeule – Catholic Integralist
Essential Works:
- Common Good Constitutionalism – Legal philosophy grounded in natural law
- All Human Flourishing is Religious (essay)
- Various essays in The Josias and First Things
Key Ideas:
- Common good constitutionalism – Law should serve the common good, not individual autonomy
- Integration of Church and State – Secular liberalism is a dead end; politics must be grounded in truth
- Dirigisme – Strong state directed toward virtue and human flourishing
Why Essential: Vermeule is bringing Integralism into mainstream legal and political discourse. He's influencing actual policy debates.
Thomas Pink – Integralist Theologian
Essential Works:
- Essays on religious liberty, coercion, and the Church's temporal power
Key Ideas:
- Church has jurisdiction over temporal matters – Not just spiritual authority, but political authority over the state
- Coercion in service of truth – The state can legitimately enforce religious truth
Why Essential: Pink provides the theological foundation for Integralism.