Traditionalism

A philosophical system which makes tradition the supreme criterion 
and rule of certitude.

Exposition

According to traditionalism, human reason is of itself radically 
unable to know with certainty any truth or, at least, the 
fundamental truths of the metaphysical, moral, and religious 
order. Hence our first act of knowledge must be an act of faith, 
based on the authority of revelation. This revelation is 
transmitted to us through society, and its truth is guaranteed by 
tradition or the general consent of mankind. Such is the 
philosophical system maintained chiefly, in its absolute form, by 
the Vicomte de Bonald and F. de Lamennais in their respective 
works and, with some mitigation, by Bautain, Bonetty, Ventura, 
Ubaghs, and the school of Louvain.

According to de Bonald, man is essentially a social being. His 
development comes through society; and the continuity and progress 
of society have their principle in tradition. Now language is the 
instrument of sociability, and speech is as natural to man as is 
his social nature itself. Language could not have been discovered 
by man, for "man needs signs or words in order to think as well as 
in order to speak"; that is "man thinks his verbal expression 
before he verbally expresses his thought"; but originally 
language, in its fundamental elements together with the thoughts 
which it expresses, was given him by God His Creator (cf.