Auguste Viatte

Philippe Muray (1945–2006) was a French essayist and novelist whose writings critically examined the modern world. His work, which has not been translated into English, gained renewed attention in France after actor Fabrice Luchini performed some of his texts. Muray's father, a writer and translator, and his mother, a devoted reader, significantly influenced his literary education.

Muray taught French literature at Stanford University in 1983, where he developed the concept of 'L'empire du bien' (the Empire of the Good) and gathered material for his book 'Le XIXe siècle à travers les âges.' In this work, he explored the link between occultism and the development of socialism. He also wrote an essay analyzing the antisemitism of author Louis-Ferdinand Céline, suggesting it stemmed partly from hygienist beliefs akin to Nazi ideology. Muray died in Paris in 2006 and is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery.

Philippe Muray was a prolific writer who contributed essays to various French publications, often criticizing what he perceived as the absurdities of contemporary life. Described as a cultural antimodernist or even reactionary, though he did not self-identify as such, Muray's work often adopted a polemical tone. He explored the profound shifts that shaped modern existence and how certain aspects of modernity, such as radical ideologies, sometimes paradoxically embraced opposing viewpoints. His writing style was characterized by detail, insistence, and humor, and he coined several neologisms to describe contemporary social phenomena, such as 'Mutin de Panurge' for conformist rebels and 'Homo Festivus' for individuals focused on pleasure and self-fulfillment.

Muray's non-fiction work, notably 'The 21st Century throughout the Ages,' posited that the decline of the Church in Europe following the French Revolution created a vacuum filled by occultism, proto-socialist, and parapsychological ideologies. He argued that these movements formed the foundation for major 20th-century political currents like feminism, Marxism, and fascism. Muray suggested that various intellectuals and figures, from Auguste Comte to Adolf Hitler, were proponents of forms of occultism that manifested through different 'brands' of socialist belief, though he acknowledged nuances in their views. He also commented on the hope for a 'New Man,' perfected for a utopian society, capable of implementing socialist theories.

In 2002, Daniel Lindenberg included Muray in a list of 'new reactionaries,' a classification Muray reportedly demonstrated was based on Lindenberg not having read his works. American historian Eugen Weber, while acknowledging Muray's insights on the connection between occultism and socialism in 19th-century France, criticized one of Muray's books as 'wordy, pretentious, excruciatingly bad,' recommending Auguste Viatte's 'Sources occultes du Romantisme' as a superior resource for serious students.