So, how was Nietzsche the father of the Nazi movement and not Christianity? I'll be adding to this post (it's exam season) but let me start you with an article by a man I admire, Peter Kreeft (any Kreeft book on the philosophers or the Church is worth reading.)
So, I'm cheating. But it's Kreeft. Enjoy.
Finally, an addition.
So Nietzsche is a bit hard to pin down, but here are a few things you can highlight. As Kreeft says, these come from simply taking Nietzsche at his word. And if this does not satisfy as a mode of analysis (and often it will not do) then we must remind ourselves that the Nazis certainly seemed to take him at his word. Sort of a Nietzschean Fundamentalism (though I think any attempt to live Nietzsche's philosophy is mad.)
So, some highlights:
1) Nietzsche's assumption is that there is no God, the Universe has no ontological (meaning built-in) meaning.
2) Nietzsche believed that there is strength and weakness (much akin to Hemingway's expression of existentialism, actually. But Hemingway drank instead of trying to take over Europe. He was a freedom fighter, not a monster.) This belief in only strength and weakness led Nietzschea few places.
3) Since there is no good, no God, there is only the force of human will. Will and strength are one.
4) There are moral systems that praise strength and moral systems that praise weakness. Master Morality vs Slave Morality. And slave morality, which glorifies weakness and gives it names like "mercy" saps the strength out of men. In Nietzsche's mind, these systems (including Judaism and Christianity alike) are abominations.
5) A Master Morality is necessary to foster strength and usher in the age of the Superman (can you say ubermensch?)
Now, the Nazis ate this stuff up and tried to put it into practise as well as they could. That is why certain terms show up in Nazi lingo: Ubermensch (Supermen), Master Race, Slave Race. That's why eradicating the Jews was more than just a scapegoat thing; the Nazis thought the world would be better off without them. And that is also why, among the saints and martyrs, there are those Catholics (and other Christians of course) who died at the hands of the Nazis specifically because they were Christians.
10 comments:
Hey Johnson,
This is completely unrelated to the post (although I do find Nietzsche to be fascinating... in a weird sort of way).
Just wanted to let you know I started up a blog:
http://bproulx.blogspot.com/
Is Nietzsche a heretic? And if not, what derogatory insult could we use in place of heretic? And I enjoy Kreefts articles, the pillars of Unbelief series he wrote are excellent, though I've only read the Machiavelli and a bit of Nietzshe one.
Jeremy W.
Neitzsche is not a heretic. A heretic a member of the Church (usually) who gets some important aspect of Church teaching incorrect. Most often this has something to do with the nature of Christ. Neitzsche wanted nothing to do with the Church.
Want an insult? Call him a pansy. Neitzsche was all talk. He would never get his hands dirty putting into practice the things he wrote about.
Ok, my post got posted three times. What gives? I suspect the "Spirit of Nietzsche"
Fixed it, Corrigan... Welcome aboard.
Salve Corrigan! And pansy is a fair insult. Also, whats the difference between a heathen and a pagan?
heathen is a cooler word to use than pagan, ya dig?
A pagan is a non-Christian. Not really an insult at all. The root of the word meant country dweller. The rustic religion of the people, back in early Rome anyway. These days, the neo-pagans bear nothing in resemblance with the good ol' farm boys back in Westlock. (my home town!)
A heretic is a Christian who has most of their dogma correct; just missing or wrong on one important point.
This might lead one to believe that pagans these days are more of a threat than heretics, but I'm not so sure. More on this later.
Mr. C
since "pagans" nowadays are more of a joke, i'd say they're less of a threat, and that perhaps heathens weren't that big of a threat to christendom, because christianity is the realization of what they were tryin to do.
just a thought.
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