Captainese interview on the Nazis’ accurate and inaccurate uses of Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche rejected liberal individualism, capitalism, egalitarianism, and peace—and he embraced struggle, hierarchy, and the ‘will to power.’ His philosophy was appropriated by the National Socialists—in some ways accurately and in some ways via misinterpretation. Captainese’s interview with Professor Stephen Hicks.

Timestamps: 1:34 Do philosophers have a responsibility to prevent the misuse of their ideas? 8:38 Were the economic and political conditions more or less significant than the philosophical ideas in the election of the Nazi Party in 1933? 16:44 Did Nietzsche see God as a kind of moral framework? 27:42 What did Nietzsche mean by saying we must create our own values? 37:14 Did Nietzsche offer any political system of his own? 40:44 Nietzsche was, in general, more critical than constructive. 51:05 Did the Nazi killing squads see themselves as ubermenschen? Their drinking seems to put the lie to that notion. 59:15 Did the Nazi Party elites misinterpret Nietzsche or were they true believers?

Related: Professor Hicks’s full book, Nietzsche and the Nazis:

2 thoughts on “Captainese interview on the Nazis’ accurate and inaccurate uses of Nietzsche”

  1. Not related to this, however can you do a video discussing the relationship between modern physics and objectivism (some views in modern physics seem to contradict objectivism, for example to my understanding Lee Smolin believes in process ontology not entity ontology, Einstein’s theory of special and general relativity might contradict objectivist metaphysics as I understand it because to my understanding objectivist metaphysics believes in a series time, the Copenhagen interpretation to my understanding advocated by Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr seems to contradict objectivist metaphysics etc.)

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