Nietzsche and the Nazis: The Impact of National Socialism on the Philosophy of Nietzsche

Abstract

This paper is divided into two parts. The first part, which draws mainly from the excellent book by Steven Aschheim, The Nietzsche Legacy in Germany 1890-1990, provides a brief overview of the facts concerning the relationship of Nietzschean philosophy to national socialism, and seeks to describe the ways in which certain key Nietzschean concepts were understood and interpreted by philosophers during the Nazi period. The second part of this paper examines the ways in which writings about Nietzsche in the post-Nazi period have responded to the Nazis' interpretation and use of Nietzschean philosophy. I will seek to set out a brief taxonomy of responses to the Nazi interpretations of Nietszchean philosophy, both as a means of understanding some post-Nazi writing about Nietzsche and the impact that national socialism has had on the philosophy of Nietzsche.

Keywords: philosophy, Nietzsche