Nietzsche, Godfather of Fascism?

[Dave Monroe]

Golomb, Jacob and Robert S. Wistrich, eds.
   Nietzsche, Godfather of Fascism? On the Uses and
   Abuses of a Philosophy.  Princeton, NJ:
   Princeton UP, 2002.
   
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 Ubermensch 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-siecle European
culture. Nietzsche dared to look into the abyss of
modern nihilism. This book tells us what he found.

http://www.pup.princeton.edu/titles/7403.html

"Introduction" at ...

http://www.pup.princeton.edu/chapters/i7403.html

http://www.pup.princeton.edu/chapters/i7403.pdf

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More
http://faith.yahoo.com