Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most controversial philosophers of the modern era. His works are often misinterpreted and misused, especially by groups like the Nazis who co-opted his ideas for their own nefarious purposes. In his book, “Nietzsche and the Nazis,” Dr. Steven Hicks provides a clear and concise overview of Nietzsche’s work and how it was misunderstood and bastardized by the Nazis.
One thing people misunderstand about Nietzsche, according to Hicks, is the idea that he was a nihilist or an advocate for a heroic lifestyle. Nihilism was a concept that Nietzsche opposed, and he was much more interested in living with a sense of existential freedom and joy. He also did not advocate for a heroic lifestyle, but instead argued that individuals should strive for personal strength and self-determination. Nietzsche saw the pursuit of power for its own sake as a sort of “slave morality” and argued that it was ultimately self-defeating. A lot of people think Nietzsche was an anti-semite, but he was actually an anti-anti-Semite who saw the Jews as an important part of Europe’s cultural identity. He was also a fierce critic of the Kaiser and the German Empire, and he believed that the German people had been robbed of their autonomy by the oppressive Prussian system. In addition, Nietzsche saw the rise of the Nazis as the ultimate insult to his philosophy, as they perverted his ideas to serve their own ends.
This is why Nietzsche has been so misunderstood and is often associated with fascism and totalitarianism. There is also the concept of the will to power. The will to power is not about dominating and oppressing others, but about finding the strength to take control of one’s life. Nietzsche believed that an individual had to be strong enough to be their own master and not be swayed by external forces. Hicks makes a compelling case that the Nazis, in their attempts to create a master race, distorted Nietzsche’s original intentions.
Other things people often get wrong abaout Nietzsche: 1. he was anti-Jewish 2. he was anti-feminist 3. he was an elitist 4. he was anti-German 5. he was an anti-Semite 6. he was a racist 7. he was a sexist 8. he was an authoritarian 9. he was a pessimist 10. he was a Marxist 11. he was a hedonist 12. he was an existentialist 13. he was an anarchist 14. he was a pantheist 15. he was an existentialist 16. he was a racist 17. he was an anti-Catholic 18. he was a romantic 19. he was an anti-humanist 20. he was an anti-religious 21. he was a pre-romanticist
Was Nietzsche anti-religious? He was certainly critical of organized religion and was skeptical of the use of religious doctrines as a tool for political control. He believed that faith should be grounded in individual experience, not external dogma. He was also aware of the dangers of religious fundamentalism, which was a major problem in Europe at the time. However, Nietzsche was not against religion per se; he was against the use of religious doctrine as a form of control and domination. Like Kierkegaard, who was his contemporary, Nietzsche believed that the ultimate truth can only be reached through individual experience and not through instruction and authority. He also believed that religion should be tied to morality and ethics and that faith should be an internal process of self-exploration and not externally enforced. Thus, Nietzsche’s philosophy is best seen as a critique of religious dogma and not necessarily an indictment of religion itself. Ultimately, Nietzsche’s philosophical project was an attempt to free individuals from the constraints of oppressive systems and to help them find a new way of living in the world.
While Nietzsche opposed the Church, he also appreciated the value of religious rituals and traditions as a way of connecting to shared cultural values. Was Nietzsche anti-Catholic? In some ways, yes. Nietzsche saw the Catholic Church as an oppressive and outmoded institution which had been a major force in shaping and restricting European culture. He saw it as a source of political and moral control, and as an instrument of social privilege. He was particularly critical of the Church’s stance on sexual morality, which he viewed as repressive and hypocritical. However, he did not oppose Catholicism as a whole. What did Nietzsche himself believe? Was he a Christian, an atheist, or a pantheist? Hicks tells us that Nietzsche was neither an atheist nor a Christian, and he was not a pantheist either. Rather, he was a believer in what he called ‘the eternal return of the same’. This concept means that life is not a linear progression but rather a cyclical pattern that is constantly repeating itself. Nietzsche’s underlying idea was that instead of viewing life as a series of steps towards some ultimate goal, we should embrace the idea of life being an ongoing process of becoming. How is this relevant to a belief in God? Nietzsche’s philosophy of the eternal return of the same can be seen as a form of atheistic spirituality, in which life is experienced and understood as an ongoing cycle, one that is constantly in flux and never static. In this sense, Nietzsche’s philosophy was a rejection of traditional religious notions of afterlife and instead offered a more existential understanding of life and its meaning. Nietzsche’s view of God was one of a force that exists beyond our understanding and is ever-shifting and constantly evolving, something that cannot be pinned down by any particular set of beliefs or dogma. Ultimately, Nietzsche’s view of God was one that was not bound by any particular religious tradition and instead was open to interpretation and individual experience.
Nietzsche’s work is complex and often difficult to understand, but at its core is a rejection of traditional morality and values. Nietzsche believed that humans had become too reliant on these external sources of guidance and that it was time for us to create our own values. This idea of self- determination is what appealed to the Nazis, who used it to justify their hateful ideology. However, Nietzsche specifically rejected anti-Semitism and any other form of hatred or bigotry. He believed that we should each strive to become our best selves, not tear others down. In ‘Nietzsche and the Nazis’ Dr. Hicks explains how the Nazis distorted his message and misused his ideas to justify their own hateful ideology. He argues that Nietzsche, in fact, would have rejected their interpretation of his works had he been alive during their time. Nietzsche’s philosophy is complex, and it is understandable that those who don’t have a full understanding of his writings could misinterpret it for their own purposes.
One idea that most people associate with Nietzsche’s philosophy was his individualism. But was Nietzsche really a proponent of individualism? Accordingt to Hicks, Nietzsche actually spoke out against individualism, and instead argued for the importance of community and collective action. He argued that we should use our individual strengths to help others, not just focus on our own needs. Nietzsche believed that true strength comes from unity and solidarity, and that we can only reach our full potential if we help each other. He saw individualism as a potential source of selfishness and egoism, and argued that it can lead to a society of people who are disconnected from each other, unable to work together or empathize with each other.
In other words, Nietzsche’s individualism was more subtle than what many people think. He believed in a morality that was based on self-overcoming and self-improvement, not on complete selfishness. He encouraged people to think for themselves and to pursue their own paths of self-fulfillment, but he did not advocate for a total rejection of social conventions and values.
In The Will to Power, Nietzsche wrote: “My philosophy aims at ordering of rank not at an individualistic morality.” In the essay ‘Why I Am a Destiny, Or, How One Becomes What One Is’, Nietzsche wrote that he wanted to ‘create a new type of man, a Superman, who is free from all social and moral constraints and is an original, self-created being’. Nietzsche believed that this Superman would be a revolutionary figure and would lead society to new ideals and new values. He saw the Superman as a new type of man who would be able to overcome the limitations of conventional morality and who would be free from the constraints of society. But Nietzsche also believed that the Superman was only possible if the people of society cooperated and helped each other. He believed that this Superman would not be a figure who would lead a revolution against society, but would instead be a figure who would help society to become better. In all cases, it wasn’t that Nietzsche was against individualism; it was that he thought individualism could only be achieved if people worked together. In short, only the superman should be an individual, and everyone else should be a part of the larger community.
In the book, Hicks provides a historical overview of Nietzsche’s life. He explains that Nietzsche was born in the late 1840’s and was raised in a German Jewish family. He was an anti-Semite, and his family was heavily influenced by this anti-Semitism. Hicks states that Nietzsche hated the Jews and that this hatred was part of his ‘identity crisis.’ Nietzsche’s anti-Semitism is one of the main reasons why the Nazis appropriated his work. They used his ideas to justify their own hatred of the Jews. However, as Hicks points out, Nietzsche’s anti-Semitism was not based on hatred or bigotry. In his later works, he rejected anti-Semitism and any other forms of prejudice.
As we learn from Hicks, Nietzsche was a complex and often misunderstood thinker. He rejected traditional morality and values and instead advocated for a system of self-determination and self-improvement. Hicks argues that Nietzsche’s rejection of traditional values was due to his rejection of his own anti-Semitism. He believed that anti-Semitism was a product of the modern era and that there was no room for it in a rational world.
Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most widely misunderstood philosophers of all time. Why? Nietzsche’s thinking was highly individualistic, and he often attacked the “herd mentality” of the masses. This, combined with his sometimes provocative writing style, has made his philosophy notoriously difficult to interpret. Add to that the fact that Nietzsche has been appropriated by a wide range of political ideologies, from socialism to fascism, and it’s no wonder that there is so much confusion about what he actually believed. In order to get a clear understanding of Nietzsche’s thought, it is important to consider his work in its entirety, and to not cherry-pick passages that support pre-existing biases. In addition, Nietsche didn’t write for a popular audience; he wrote for other philosophers. And his work is often misinterpreted because it is so dense and full of ideas that are difficult to unpack. But I think the biggest reason why Nietzsche is so misunderstood is because he has been appropriated by people with agendas that have nothing to do with his actual ideas. The Nazis, for example, appropriated Nietzsche’s work to justify their own hateful ideology.
Notable Quotes:
“In 1920, psychiatry Professor Alfred Hoche and distinguished jurist Karl Binding wrote The Permission to Destroy Life Unworthy of Life. Their book called for the destruction of “worthless” humans for the sake of protecting worthy humans. So-called worthless individuals included the mentally and physically disabled.”
“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. Both say to you: Be a nice boy. Be a good little girl. Share. Feel sorry for the little people. And both desperately seek someone to look after them—whether it be God or the State.”
“Damning those he called “the money pigs of capitalist democracy,”[11] Goebbels in speeches and pamphlets regularly declaimed that “Money has made slaves of us.”[12] “Money,” he argued, “is the curse of mankind. It smothers the seed of everything great and good. Every penny is sticky with sweat and blood.”
“We know that the National Socialists were thoroughly collectivistic and strongly anti-individualistic. For them the relevant groups were the Germanic Aryans—and all the others. Individuals were defined by their group identity, and individuals were seen only as vehicles through which the groups achieved their interests. The Nazis rejected the Western liberal idea that individuals are ends in themselves: to the Nazis individuals were merely servants of the groups to which they belong.”
“And in the 1920s, the Germans were, arguably, the most educated nation in the world with the highest levels of literacy, numbers of years of schooling, newspaper readership, political awareness, and so on. It was in an educated nation that the Nazis achieved increasing success in elections through the 1920s, spreading their message far and wide, until they made their major breakthroughs in the early 1930s.”