Towards a Study of Aldous Huxley as a Political Thinker: An Intellectual Biography

Behind the renowned artistic and literary production of Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) is a political thinking founded on specific philosophical bases. Although these might not always be solid, and on the whole may even be discontinuous, they are never incoherent, especially if viewed as the search for a gap in the web spun by the great ideologies in which, and in this he is representative of the intellectuals of his time, he remains fundamentally entangled. His re-analysis of the political theories that inspired him—this article aims to map them out—makes his reflections interesting, original and tremendously up-to-date. This intellectual biography is, then, the first step towards a study of Huxley not as a literary figure, but as a political thinker; one who, by exploiting his indubitable talent as a writer, chooses literature to express his ideas, understanding the impact of the dystopian novel on twentieth-century political thinking.