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Originally Posted by $5 submissions
Hmmm interesting. A quick reading of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" reveals that Nietzsche was SICKENED and disgusted by the rising tide of German Nationalism. He viewed subscribing to other forces outside of one's self...whether it be religion, or GROUP PRIDE or nationalism, as a form of weakness. To him, strength comes from the INDIVIDUAL not invented fairy tales of group superiority or group history or church doctrine.
The Nazis just misused his keyphrases like the Triumph of the Will and the concept of the Ubermensch the same way they perverted the ancient Hindu symbol of the swastika.
For a more academic discussion of this (old and debunked) linking, check out, for example: http://www.randomhouse.com/schocken/...1&view=excerpt |
NWe know that Nietzsche was not anti semitic. Since Nietzsche died in 1900 and had been already disabled for almost 10 years at the point of his death, there is no real link between him and the post WWI German national movement. There is, however, a huge influence on the Nazis who were probably selective and ignorant in their interpretation of Nietzsche, which the application of "Triumph of the Will"* as the title of Riefenstahl's documentary shows.
Baeumler, one of the Nazi's main philosophers drew most of his philosophical views from Nietzsche.
*(BTW, if you disregard the political context, the movie is still among the top 5 EVER as far as camera movment is concerned).