Well, I tend to agree with Jaensch about 'banalities with the appearance of meaning.' O.K. On Thursday, March 27, 2014 10:03 AM, "cblists@xxxxxxxx" <cblists@xxxxxxxx> wrote: A not insignificant element in my own response to the 'Nazi Heidegger' question was the attitude of the Nazis themselves towards Heidegger. Heidegger's philosophy was scorned by Nazi 'ideologists', and Heidegger himself was viewed as someone who merely played at being a Nazi. Here is what some of the Nazis close to the center of power thought of Heidegger and his work (as reported by Ruediger Safranski in _Ein Mesiter aus Deutschland: Heidegger und seine Zeit_): To Erich Jaensch (psychologist), Heidegger was a "gefaehricher Schizophrener" [dangerous schizophrenic]; Heidegger's works were "psychopathologische Dokumente", his thought was at the core "talmudisch-rabulistisch" - "Banalitaeten mit dem Schein von Bedeutsamkeiten" [banalities with the *appearance* of meaning]. Jaensch warned that Heidegger would quickly 'change his colours' should the Nazi revolution lose momentum. To Ernst Krieck (pretender to the role of 'official' philosopher of the Nazi movement), Heidegger's position was one of "metaphysischer Nihilismus" - "nichts darin von Volk und Staat, von Rasse und alle werten unseres nationalsozialistischen Weltbildes" [there's nothing in it about 'people' and 'state', about 'race' and all the values of our national-socialist world view]. To Walter Gross ("Leiter des Rassenpolitischen Amtes" [leader of the department for racial politics] of the NSDAP), Heidegger's version of national socialism contained "so gut wie gar keine . . . nationalsozialistisch brauchbaren Elemente" [in effect absolutely no elements useful to national-socialism]. The Nazis wanted Heidegger 'onside' because of his international reputation; but his philosophical 'program' was viewed with mistrust and suspicion. Far from seeing Heidegger's 'shadowy generalities' as 'ideally appropriate', Krieck warned that ultimately Heidegger would drive the German people into the 'saving arms of the church'. Heidegger was, in the opinion of Krieck and others, simply not the man for the task of "der Bewegung einen geistigen und ethischen Kern zu schaffen" [producing a spiritual and ethical core for the movement]. As great as the Nazi's need for 'an overarching philosophical system' may have been, Heidegger was most definitely not seen by them as the man to supply it. Chris Bruce Kiel, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------------- To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html