From Alex Von Tunzelmann’s Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire: Gandhi advised the British to give up the fight against Hitler and Mussolini, and he advised Jews in Germany to offer passive resistance to the Nazi regime: “Gandhi’s position on nonviolence was absolute. Aggression could never be returned. He did […]
Gandhi’s pacificism and the Nazi threat Read More »
What are Fascism and Nazism, historically and philosophically? What are their connections to Benito Mussolini, Friedrich Nietzsche, Joseph Goebbels, and Adolf Hitler? And do those words describe today’s Alt-Right and Antifa members? Vin Armani’s one-hour interview with me appears at 60:10:35 of this two-hour show: Related: Nietzsche and the Nazis. Mussolini and Gentile’s The Doctrine
“Fascist” and “Nazi” discussion at the Vin Armani Show Read More »
Syllabus. Exam Schedule. To start: Stephen Hicks, “What Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us All About Life.” Published in The Wall Street Journal (2016). Topic One Is life meaningful or meaningless? The Meaning of Life—Selected Quotations from Psalms, Shakespeare, Brooke, Marvell, Thoreau, and others. Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus” (1942). Optional: Stephen Hicks, “Would Immortality Be Worth
Ethics — Course Topics Read More »
Two from Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Gentile’s The Doctrine of Fascism (1932): “Fascism sees in the world not only those superficial, material aspects in which man appears as an individual, standing by himself, self-centered, subject to natural law, which instinctively urges him toward a life of selfish momentary pleasure; it sees not only the individual
Fascism — three quotations from the source Read More »
[In the 1920s, Professor Alfredo Rocco became Minister of Justice in Italy under Benito Mussolini. This essay was originally published in 1925, and this translation1 by Dino Bigongiari (Columbia University) was published in 1926. It is here also in PDF format. More Texts in Philosophy at my site.] The Political Doctrine of Fascism By Alfredo Rocco Fascism
Rocco’s *The Political Doctrine of Fascism* [text] Read More »
Reading postmodern history can be frustrating, with its philosophical antipathy to facts and truth and its ideological priors. Here’s an example — Jean-François Lyotard on the rise of authoritarianism: Saddam Hussein is a product of Western departments of state and big companies, just as Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco were born of the ‘peace’ imposed on
Correcting postmodern history — imperialist version Read More »
“Germany had the world’s strongest antismoking movement in the 1930s and early 1940s, supported by Nazi medical and military leaders worried that tobacco might prove a hazard to the race. Many Nazi leaders were vocal opponents of smoking. Anti-tobacco activists pointed out that whereas Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt were all fond of tobacco, the three
Anti-smoking activists — historical anecdote Read More »
A common meme about the financial crisis blames it on capitalism run amok and holds the rise of free-market fundamentalism among economists responsible for unleashing the greed. Academic economists, the argument runs, are largely free-marketers, and they convinced politicians to deregulate important swathes of the American economy, and the unbridled capitalists then engaged in a
An old specter is again haunting Europe — neo-fascist and neo-Nazi movements and political parties are returning to prominence. This feature in Britain’s The Guardian notes an increase in attacks on Jews in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Further east and south Nazi-like parties are surging in the polls in countries like Hungary and Greece,
The Revival of Nazism in Europe — It’s Not Just Racism [Good Life series] Read More »
Worth reading: David Ramsay Steele’s now-classic article on the intellectual origins and practical evolution of fascism — “The Mystery of Fascism.” “From 1912 to 1914, Mussolini was the Che Guevara of his day, a living saint of leftism. Handsome, courageous, charismatic, an erudite Marxist, a riveting speaker and writer, a dedicated class warrior to the
Steele on The Mystery of Fascism Read More »