Nietzsche's contribution?

Question

From my research, I found out that Nietzsche encouraged Nazism through his work (or Hitler just used Nietzsche’s work as propaganda usage, but). Is there any particular work that supports this Nazism by Nietzsche? (How did Hitler use Nietzsche as a reference?)

Also I found that there are several Nietzsche societies. What contribution did he make that encouraged this society?

Answer 1

While Nietzsche did speak of a movement towards the creation of a "Master Race", he wasn't specifically specifying that one race or another was lesser. Hitler, and other founders of National Socialism, however, picked and chose segments of Nietzsche's works to suit their aims of stirring resentment against the Jewish people of Germany and elsewhere - specifically from "Thus Spake Zarathustra", which was Nietzsche's work concerning a new age of truth in morality and power which would energise the emergence of a "Master Race"

So, I would say that Nietzsche didn't encourage racism in his works and that the NAZI's selected segments of his writings to bend them to their own purpose. It didn't help that Nietzsche's sister, Elisabeth Alexandra Forster-Nietzsche, who managed his literary estate after his death, WAS supportive of the NAZI regime and has been accused of editing and changing much of Nietzsche's works to assist Hitler's push to use Nietzsche as a part of his propoganda machine.

As for the Nietzsche societies, I've never heard of him supporting any following of himself. I've just researched a little to see if I could find anything, and I didn't come up with anything. I would surmise that scholarly support for him came after his death.

Answer 2

Nietzsche was NOT a Nazi or a fascist. His ideas were twisted by political idealogues trying to bring some 'substance' to their lunacy. Nietzsche would never have gone along with that.

His idea of 'superman' from Thus Spake Zarathustra was taken out of context and perverted and subverted and used wrongly to support racism.

Answer 3

Nietzsche's famous statement of "God is dead" brought forth a lot of confusion to the modern people. By deniying the existence of God, Nietzche said that mand had NOTHING (nihilism) to hold on too but Himsellf, and in view of this he had to discard all the morality and metaphysics learned thus far: There is no truth, Charity is stupidity, meekness is weak, all the christian values are perverse because they cause man to be servile, etc...So instead of this old morality Nietzche said that "we have to create a new man, the Superman" a man that is not afraid to li9\ve his own life and determines his own essence without the "false pretense of achieving eternal life", a amn that will make his owm meaning by asserting His own will over life...and this is where Nietzche goes coo-coo...because there is an eternal recurrence, and we will always be reborn over and over again as the same person, so we have to be happy and assert ourselves because this life is all the life there is or there will ever be, over and over again. It suffices to say that the last ten years of his life Nietzche lived them as a mad man claiming that he was God.

Bietzche prophesized the absurd and conflictive 20th century, because "man has killed God, and the force of the roaring waters have not hit us yet"

Hitler of course, since Nietzche was german, loved to use His "superman" theory to justify His racial supremacy creed for germans as destined to rule the world. And that, along with nihilism, moral relativism, and existencial angst is his "contribution" to mankind.

Answer 4

the primary concept that was stolen and bastardized by Hitler was Nietzsche's concept of the "superman".there is no mention of a blond-haired blue-eyed "super-race"in any of Nietzsche's writings.the correct translation of "superman"in my opinion is "uber-mensch".a "mensch" is a wise-man or sage or "complete'"man, a man with a conscience.the "uber-man" is the "over"-man,that which is the even higher aspirations,even inspirations, of the "all-too human" everyday man's being.the state of 'super- being",therefore is the rising above or "over" the ordinary, the non-creative,the instincts for mere struggling for survival;the victory of the creative over the destructive.the contribution of Nietzsche to the world is his writing itself,which is exhilarating in its celebration of the mind.i always recommend "Thus Spake Zarathustra" as the ideal introduction to Nietzsche,the edition translated by Walter Kaufman."now I pass the Golden Ball to you!".

Answer 5

Nietzsche was attractive to the avant-guard Modernists of the early 20th century because of his emphasis on creative power. His writings were distorted by 20th Century Fascists because if certain sayings are selected out, they can be seen to support aggression and racist xenophobia. His writings, especially his belief that Man, not God, is all-powerful, achieved new popularity among French philosophers of the 1960's, leading to Time Magazine's famous cover pronouncement on the death of God.