[This is Section 40 of Nietzsche and the Nazis.] Part 8. Conclusion: Nazi and Anti-Nazi Philosophies 40. Hindsight and future resolve We know from historical hindsight that it took a world war to defeat the Nazis. Tens of millions of human beings died in that war. Actual human beings who lived, loved, cried, had dreams—and […]
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[This is Section 41 of Nietzsche and the Nazis.] 41. Principled anti-Nazism Philosophically and politically, the Nazis stood for five major principles: They stood for collectivism, for instinct and passion, for war and conflict, for authoritarianism, and for socialism. National Socialist Principles: Collectivism Instinct, passion, “blood” War and zero-sum conflict Authoritarianism Socialism That means we
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Baader-Meinhof was a far Left terrorist group, and one of the most violent, killing dozens and maiming more during the 1970s. Its “official” name was Rote Armee Fraktion (“Red Army Faction”). The logo shows a nice big socialist red star with a Heckler Koch submachine gun. The group’s two most prominent members were Andreas Baader
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While the world watched France’s revolution, an equally important cultural phenomenon was occurring across the Rhine: “In the year 1789 … nothing else was talked of in Germany but the philosophy of Kant, about which were poured forth in abundance commentaries, chrestomathies, interpretations, estimates, apologies, and so forth.” That’s Heinrich Heine, who also wrote, “Our
[This is Section 36 of Nietzsche and the Nazis.] 36. Instinct, passion, and anti-reason Hitler was fond of saying, in private, “What luck that men do not think.” Another significant point of agreement exists between Nietzsche and the Nazis: Both agree that the great conflicts will not be solved rationally, through the processes of discussion,
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[This is Section 32 of Nietzsche and the Nazis.] 32. On Judaism and Christianity: opposite or identical? One more key difference between Nietzsche and the Nazis is important, and that is their views on Christianity. Nietzsche consistently states that Judaism and Christianity are allies, both stemming from the same source, both advocating a religious ethic
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A striking statement on school reform by U.S. Education Secretary, Arne Duncan. Duncan called the 2005 Hurricane Katrina “the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans.” Duncan continued: “That education system was a disaster, and it took Hurricane Katrina to wake up the community to say that ‘we have to do
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At this year’s APEE conference, I am chairing a session on “Ethics and the Financial Crisis.” The rationale for the session: Many conferences and debates are focusing on the economics and politics of the crisis, but much less attention is being focused on the core ethics issues involved. Here are the participants and the titles
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