Nietzsche, Godfather of Fascism? : On the Uses and Abuses of a Philosophy

by Golomb, Jacob; Wistrich, Robert S.

• ISBN13: 9781400825332
• ISBN10: 1400825334
• Copyright: 2008-09-02
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Nietzsche, the Godfather of Fascism?What can Nietzsche have in common with this murderous ideology? Frequently described as the "radical aristocrat" of the spirit, Nietzsche abhorred mass culture and strove to cultivate an Uuml;bermensch endowed with exceptional mental qualities. What can such a thinker have in common with the fascistic manipulation of the masses for chauvinistic goals that crushed the autonomy of the individual?The question that lies at the heart of this collection is how Nietzsche came to acquire the deadly "honor" of being considered the philosopher of the Third Reich and whether such claims had any justification. Does it make any sense to hold him in some way responsible for the horrors of Auschwitz?The editors present a range of views that attempt to do justice to the ambiguity and richness of Nietzsche's thought. First-rate contributions by a variety of distinguished philosophers and historians explore in depth Nietzsche's attitudes toward Jews, Judaism, Christianity, anti-Semitism, and National Socialism. They interrogate Nietzsche's writings for fascist and anti-Semitic proclivities and consider how they were read by fascists who claimed Nietzsche as their intellectual godfather.There is much that is disturbingly antiegalitarian and antidemocratic in Nietzsche, and his writings on Jews are open to differing interpretations. Yet his emphasis on individualism and contempt for German nationalism and anti-Semitism put him at stark odds with Nazi ideology.The Nietzsche that emerges here is a tragic prophet of the spiritual vacuum that produced the twentieth century's totalitarian movements, the thinker who best diagnosed the pathologies of fin-de-siegrave;cle European culture. Nietzsche dared to look into the abyss of modern nihilism. This book tells us what he found.The contributors are Menahem Brinker, Daniel W. Conway, Stanley Corngold, Kurt Rudolf Fischer, Jacob Golomb, Robert C. Holub, Berel Lang, Wolfgang Muuml;ller-Lauter, Alexander Nehamas, David Ohana, Roderick Stackelberg, Mario Sznajder, Geoffrey Waite, Robert S. Wistrich, and Yirmiyahu Yovel.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
A Note on Sources and List of Abbreviations	p. xi
Contributors	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
In Theory
How to De-Nazify Nietzsche 's Philosophical
Anthropology?	p. 19
Misinterpretation as the Author 's Responsibility (Nietzsche's fascism, for instance)	p. 47
Experiences with Nietzsche	p. 66
Nietzsche and "Hitler"	p. 90
Nietzsche and the Jews	p. 107
Nietzsche contra Wagner on the Jews	p. 126
Between the Cross and the Swastika: A Nietzschean Perspective	p. 144
In Practice
Ecce Caesar: Nietzsche 's Imperial Aspirations	p. 173
A Question of Responsibility:Nietzsche with Hölderlin at War, 1914-1946	p. 196
The Elisabeth Legend: The Cleansing of Nietzsche and the Sullying of His Sister	p. 215
Nietzsche, Mussolini, and Italian Fascism	p. 235
Nietzsche and the Fascist Dimension: The Case of Ernst Jünger	p. 263
A Godfather Too:Nazism as a Nietzschean Experiment	p. 291
Critique as Apologetics: Nolte's Interpretation of Nietzsche	p. 301
Works of Nietzsche Cited	p. 321
Select Bibliography	p. 323
Index	p. 333
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