In “Philosophy and a Century of War,” I left the Soviet Union out of my discussion of World War II, for reasons not clear or convincing to everyone. So let me lay out my thought process. I started with a semi-complete list of the belligerents on both sides. It looks like this: From outside perspective, […]
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“History is philosophy teaching by example,” said Bolingbroke. Philosophy has a reputation for being abstract, which it is. Philosophy also has a reputation for being impractical or pointless, which it certainly is not. Here is my nine-minute explanation for why philosophy is life or death. (Much thanks to Christopher Vaughan for his fine video and
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Nietzsche and the Nazis: A Personal View was first produced as a documentary in 2006. The book version was published in 2010. A Polish translation is forthcoming in 2014. We are releasing an audiobook version serially. To begin, here are Parts 1 and 2. Part 1. Introduction: Philosophy and History [mp3] [YouTube] [5 minutes] 1.
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Part 2 of the audiobook version of my Nietzsche and the Nazis: A Personal View. Part 2. Explaining Nazism Philosophically [mp3] [YouTube] [17 minutes] 3. How could Nazism happen? [mp3] [YouTube] 4. Five weak explanations for National Socialism [mp3] [YouTube] 5. Explaining Nazism Philosophically [mp3] [YouTube] Forthcoming: Part 3. National Socialist Philosophy Part 4. The
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Part 1 of the audiobook version of my Nietzsche and the Nazis: A Personal View. Part 1. Introduction: Philosophy and History [mp3] [YouTube] [5 minutes] 1. Fascinated by history [mp3] [YouTube] 2.What is philosophy of history? [mp3] [YouTube] Forthcoming: Part 2. Explaining Nazism Philosophically Part 3. National Socialist Philosophy Part 4. The Nazis in Power
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A busy week for Nazi-related news items: * A profile of August Landmesser, the man who famously crossed his arms and refused to salute Hitler, and how the Nazi regime destroyed him and his family. * A short, blunt, and horrifying speech given by Himmler to a group of SS officers: “I am talking about
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Following up on “Are we declining from our decline?” and “The constant decline of civilization?”, here is one of my favorites historians, Sallust (86– c. 35 BCE), on how his generation of Romans is so much worse morally than the preceding ones. In The War with Catiline, he writes: “Since the occasion has arisen to
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I like David Henderson’s approach to this solemn day of focusing on the individuals involved in wars rather than the often-gestural generalities. Henderson highlights the moving second stanza of John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields: In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The
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