The Ominous Parallels - Tranche IV
Chapter Two, Excerpt 2 of 2
The Totalitarian Universe
Hegel seeks to undercut any individualist opponents; proclaiming that statism represents a passion for human liberty. Sanctioned by an intricate metaphysical system, in accordance with his concept of destiny, is a claim for a militaristic dictator to throw aside morality and “burst the world in pieces.” Religions have divided men into the chosen and the damned and then interpreted history as the struggle of the chosen to carry out the divine plan. Hegel’s philosophy of history amounts to this.
The Nazis were able to combine the two doctrines easily. Nazi collectivism is a form of racism rather than nationalism. What theoreticians of racism did was to secularize the Hegelian approach. Notes Ludwig von Mises, “there were no longer any liberal authors in Germany. Thus, the nationalist writers and professors easily conquered.” Nature and God, the Nazis sometimes say, are merely different forms; there is no difference between natural and divine selection.
There was also Martin Luther, regarded by the Nazis as the greatest single power in the development of German religion . . . an influence on the philosophies of both Kant and Hegel. There was Karl Marx, the creator of modern communism and an archvillain in the Nazi eyes, who nevertheless helped pave the way by popularizing the principles of Hegel, including his rejection of Aristotelian logic. Such doctrines cannot arise except in a culture saturated with mystical-collectivist philosophy.
(condensed excerpts from Dr. Leonard Peikoff's 1982 book of the same title)
The Totalitarian Universe
Hegel seeks to undercut any individualist opponents; proclaiming that statism represents a passion for human liberty. Sanctioned by an intricate metaphysical system, in accordance with his concept of destiny, is a claim for a militaristic dictator to throw aside morality and “burst the world in pieces.” Religions have divided men into the chosen and the damned and then interpreted history as the struggle of the chosen to carry out the divine plan. Hegel’s philosophy of history amounts to this.
The Nazis were able to combine the two doctrines easily. Nazi collectivism is a form of racism rather than nationalism. What theoreticians of racism did was to secularize the Hegelian approach. Notes Ludwig von Mises, “there were no longer any liberal authors in Germany. Thus, the nationalist writers and professors easily conquered.” Nature and God, the Nazis sometimes say, are merely different forms; there is no difference between natural and divine selection.
There was also Martin Luther, regarded by the Nazis as the greatest single power in the development of German religion . . . an influence on the philosophies of both Kant and Hegel. There was Karl Marx, the creator of modern communism and an archvillain in the Nazi eyes, who nevertheless helped pave the way by popularizing the principles of Hegel, including his rejection of Aristotelian logic. Such doctrines cannot arise except in a culture saturated with mystical-collectivist philosophy.
(condensed excerpts from Dr. Leonard Peikoff's 1982 book of the same title)
In America today, the dominant philosophy of universities and media is to identify "oppressors" for doom based on race and advocacy for legitimate human liberty.