When first reading Nietzsche's "Genealogy of Morals," it is hard to avoid drawing parallels to the attempted extermination of the Jews by the Nazis in the 1930s, given Nietzsche's discussion of Aryans as nobles and his descriptions of Jews as the slave class.
However, in light of Nietzsche's analogy of lambs and birds of prey, it becomes clear that Nietzsche would not have viewed the attempted extermination of the Jewish people as an expression of strength by a noble class. If the Nazis were noble, we should be able to consider them as the birds of prey and Jews as lambs. But this cannot be extended to the Nazis, for what bird of prey would wish to completely exterminate it's prey? While birds of prey certainly exert their will on lambs, they also depend on them. Without the lambs, the birds of prey would be unlikely to survive, thus rendering their preying on the lambs as an act of necessity, not of pure aggression. Respect for one's enemy (or prey) defines nobility/birds of prey, for the noble "can endure no other enemy than one in whom there is nothing to despise and very much to honor!" (section 10). Thus, the birds of prey respect the lambs in that they prey on them according to need and not to the point of extinction. The Lion King's "circle of life" perfectly outlines this predator/prey relationship of respect.
But unlike the birds of prey, the Nazis sought to eliminate an entire group of people. They exhibit a slave mentality, as they viewed the Jews as "the evil enemy," and desired to be rid of them in order to protect their way of thinking, in much the same way that the lambs wished for the extermination of the birds of prey in order to protect them from being killed. Further, had the Nazis truly been examples of Nietzsche's nobles, they would not have been bothered by the Jews presence. For the noble "shakes off with a single shrug many vermin that eat deep into others" (section 10). Even if the Jews had been the "vermin" that the Nazis portrayed them as, it would not have warranted the Nazis' persecution of the Jewish people.
So while the Nazis may have cited Nietzsche to attempt to justify their actions, they were not acting as Nietzsche's nobility, but as slaves.
Changing the parts in each role for the lamb/bird analogy really simplifies the contention surrounding Nietzsche and Nazism. I think it's fair to say that the Nazis did not all read Nietzsche, and that those who turned to Nietzsche for inspiration focused on particular passages. The very general idea that there is a given difference between the noble and the weak, and that the nobles were originally and thus should be on top, probably provided the association between Nietzsche and Nazism.
ReplyDeleteWell, the National Socialist Party did take heavy inspiration from Nietzsche's work (hell, Nietzsche's sister presented Hitler with the philosopher's cane), although it is true that Nietzsche's sister and brother in law heavily edited the man's work to be even more pro aryan and pro Nazi. So in a way, the Nazis did read all of the Nietzsche they could, but even that wasn't precisely what Nietzsche spoke of.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately with reading any Nietzsche, every text is up for debate as to what the man really meant. We can say that persons who claim to follow Nietzsche only have a limited sense of the man's work, but I honestly don't even think that Nietzsche really could tell you precisely what he meant. Aphorisms sound entertaining and bring about some interesting ideas, but they don't make for a strong foundation for philosophy.
Building on Chris's point, I think the differing interpretations of Nietzche's work are reflective of people interpreting the work how they want to interpret it. I agree with all the points Grace made about the Nazis acting in the way of slaves. However, the Nazis did use Nietzche to justify their ideas. I think they just wanted to justify what they were doing, and certain aspects of Nietzche's work (especially its vagueness) made it a prime target for the Nazis. People are always looking for justification and validation, and this is an example of that. As to what Nietzche really meant, no one can really be sure. The Nazis capitalized on this uncertainty to make the work something that was useful for them.
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