Thread by @eriktorenberg

What is Nietzsche's lasting influence on Nazi Germany?

Brief summary of Stephen Hicks' "Nietzsche and the Nazis"

amazon.com/dp/B003XVYHRU/…

It may be hard to believe that the Nazis thought of themselves as idealists.

Western liberal democracies—& the freedom, equality, & peace they provide—are seen as good.

But was it obvious in the 1930s?

Democratic experiments were tried in ancient Greece and Rome. Both failed.

At the time it wasn't obvious liberal democracies were superior.

The U.S. lasted only 90 years before it plunged into a brutal Civil War.

In the 1920s the U.S. is itself experiencing economic uncertainty and is shortly to plunge into its Great Depression.

Nazism is collectivistic: it does not hold that individuals have their own lives to live and happiness to pursue. Rather, individuals should serve the general good, to which they subordinate their personal lives

Nazism tried to reconcile nationalism and socialism.

the Nazis rejected cosmopolitanism, an ideal of Western liberals who believe that all humans are essentially the same wherever one travels in the world, and who believe that one should strive to be a citizen of the world.

The Nazis are nationalists, by contrast.

The message was quite clear: You are not a private individual seeking profit or higher wages in a capitalist economy. You and your property belong in trust to the German people, and you have a duty to serve the public interest, even if it involves a personal sacrifice.

That human beings are divided into collective groups that shape their identity.

That those collective groups are in a life and death competitive struggle with each other.

That any tactic is legitimate in the war of competing groups.

That human beings are not individuals with their own lives to live but are servants of the state.

That the state should have total power over both the minds and bodies of its citizens and may dispose of them as

If you believe wholeheartedly and passionately that your identity is found by merging yourself with your group—* that your group is locked in a mortal, zero-sum conflict w/ other groups—& that reason is superficial & that passion & instinct drive the world—what does that portend?

Thinkers associated w/ revolutions:

Communist in Russia & China - Marx
French - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
American - John Locke
Nazi - Hegel, Fichte, some Marx, but mostly Nietzsche.

Friedrich Nietzsche was a nineteenth-century German philosopher famous for his worship of human potential & for encouraging individuals to seek great heights & make real their creative dreams. He is also famous for his absolute loathing of all things small, cowardly, or mediocre.

For fans of Nietzsche, the idea that God is dead galvanizes every fiber of their being. They respond by feeling, both passionately & solemnly: I will become the author. I will create. I will embrace the responsibility—joyously. I will move beyond good and evil & create new values

Both religion and socialism thus glorify weakness and need.

Both recoil from the world as it is: tough, unequal, harsh.

Both flee to an imaginary future realm where they can feel safe.

And both desperately seek someone to look after them—whether it be God or the State.

And where, asks Nietzsche, are the men of courage? Who is willing to stare into the abyss? Who can look a tiger in the eye without flinching? Every generation produces its people who accept easily that life is brutal, but assert their strength to meet the challenge.

The more we look at history, the more we are struck by the diversity of circumstances & how dramatically beliefs about values have changed across time.

We once prized power & looked down upon the humble and & meek. Now the meek are the “good guys” while the aggressive are “evil

We went from:

- Be ambitious and bold, and seek your highest dream.
- Seek great challenges, pleasures, & go your own way in life
- And when you accomplish something great, admire yourself for what you have done and indulge yourself in the rewards that greatness deserves.

To:

- The meek shall inherit the earth, and blessed are the poor.
- Instead of seeking profit, one should sacrifice and give to charity.
- Be aware of one’s weaknesses and sins, and be ashamed and self-deprecating as a result.

This has led to rise in Democracy.

Democracies tailor their policies to the majority—not to the exceptional few who are radicals, trailblazers, and uncompromising risk-takers. But according to Nietzsche, the modern democracy itself based on this great inversion described above.

Nietzsche also credits the Judeo-Christian tradition for its spiritual development—its ability to focus inward & stress self-discipline.

He wants to combine the physical vitality of the aristocratic masters w/ the spiritual ruthlessness of Christianity.

Ceasar w/ soul of Christ

Nietzsche holds that reason is an artificial tool of weaklings—those who need to feel safe and secure build fantasy orderly structures for themselves.

Instead, instincts are the deepest parts of your nature—and when you feel them strongly, nurture them and manifest them.

Nietzsche views on Jews are often misappropriated.

He did blame them (& Christians) for the great inversion valuing the weak over the strong, subverting greatness in his view

He still admires how well they've both prospered despite this and flourished amid the great inversion.

Differences between Nietzsche and the Nazis:

1.  Nietzsche did not believe any race was superior.
2. Nietzsche did not think Germans were culturally superior.
3.  Nietzsche wasn't Anti-Semitic .
4. Nietzsche saw strong parallels between Judaism and Christianity

Similarities between Nietzsche & the Nazis:

1. Both were strongly collectivistic
2. Both saw see zero-sum conflict as inescapable and as fundamental to the human condition.
3. Both downplay reason & prize instincts
4. Both are anti-democratic, anti capitalistic, & anti-liberal

The Nazis stood for collectivism. The opposite of that is a philosophy of individualism that recognizes individual rights.

The Nazis stood for instinct as one’s basic guides in life. The opposite of that is a philosophy that has a healthy confidence in the power of reason.

After detailing the atrocities of the Nazis as well as the underlying philosophies of the Nazi party (and contrasting them with Nietzsche's philosophies), Hicks ends the book provocatively:

"The Nazis knew what they stood for. Do we?"