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The Perennial Philosophy

The Perennial Philosophy is a comparative study of mysticism by the British writer and novelist Aldous Huxley. Its title derives from the theological tradition of perennial philosophy.

For the school of thought in philosophy and spirituality, see Perennial philosophy.

Author

Aldous Huxley

Mysticism, theology

Harper & Brothers, 1945

United States, United Kingdom

A brief Introduction by Huxley, of just over 5 pages.

Twenty-seven chapters (each of about 10 pages) of quotations from sages and saints on specific topics, with "short connecting commentaries." The chapters are not grouped in any way though there is a kind of order from the nature of the Ground at the beginning, down to practical exercises at the end. The Acknowledgements list 27 books from which quotations have been taken. The chapter titles are:

[2]

The book's structure consists of:

Critical reception[edit]

In the United States[edit]

The Perennial Philosophy was widely reviewed when first published in 1945, with articles appearing in Book Week, Booklist, The Christian Century, Bull VA Kirkus' Bookshop Serv., The Nation, The New Republic, The New Yorker, Saturday Review of Literature, Springfield Republican, New York Herald Tribune, and the Wilson Bulletin.[6]


The New York Times wrote that, "Perhaps Mr. Huxley, in The Perennial Philosophy has, at this time, written the most needed book in the world."[7] The Times described the book as an:

(philosophia perennis)

Perennial philosophy

– A book by Walter T. Stace with a similar thesis

The Teachings of the Mystics

The Perennial Philosophy

ISBN

at Internet Archive.

The Perennial Philosophy