gimley reviewed Nietzsche and the Nazis by Stephen R. C. Hicks
Review of 'Nietzsche and the Nazis' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
2 and a half stars rounded down to 2. Hicks is, if nothing else, clear and concise. It makes him easy to read and easy to understand. He sees Nazism as primarily an ideology and argues that it is best opposed by a counter ideology. This ideology matches that of Nietzsche half the time and opposes it the other half (though the Nazis chose to ignore that part).
I disagree that the ideology of Nazism is primary or as clear and consistent as Hicks makes it out to be. In fact, one aspect of Nazi theory is that passion is more important than the intellect so Nazism is explicitly anti-ideology. Just because philosophers like Heidegger supported him didn't make it an intellectual movement.
Hicks plays up the "socialist" part of National Socialism and points out the socialist aspects of the Nazi platform. Though these aspects existed when it was founded …
2 and a half stars rounded down to 2. Hicks is, if nothing else, clear and concise. It makes him easy to read and easy to understand. He sees Nazism as primarily an ideology and argues that it is best opposed by a counter ideology. This ideology matches that of Nietzsche half the time and opposes it the other half (though the Nazis chose to ignore that part).
I disagree that the ideology of Nazism is primary or as clear and consistent as Hicks makes it out to be. In fact, one aspect of Nazi theory is that passion is more important than the intellect so Nazism is explicitly anti-ideology. Just because philosophers like Heidegger supported him didn't make it an intellectual movement.
Hicks plays up the "socialist" part of National Socialism and points out the socialist aspects of the Nazi platform. Though these aspects existed when it was founded and Hitler gave speeches praising socialism and denouncing Capitalism, this was mainly lip service intended to win over the working class. He did favor nationalizing key aspects of the economy but that was just because he wanted to control them. Hitler was anti-union and anti-equality. Most other sources are clear on this (e.g. Encyclopedia Britanica) and point out, for example, he was probably behind the murder of Gregor Strasser, a party leader and proponent of socialism 1934 during the Night of the Long Knives.
On the plus side, you can read through this book in a day or two.