To be precise, it doesn't matter much.
Based on his philosophy, Nietzsche is more commonly known for two things: Nazi worship of him; His prediction of the great war in Europe. Critics believe that his extreme anti-democratic thought is the predecessor of militarism and Nazism, and defenders believe that Nazis used Nietzsche's theory to do evil.
Europe in those days was the same as today: while preparing for war and national rejuvenation, the monarchs and prime ministers shouted for peace, bilateral cooperation and communication mechanisms; Science and technology are changing with each passing day, and GDP achievements exceed the sum of previous times; Ethnic conflicts and class conflicts are on the verge, and "the motherland" and "the people" are fighting in the streets; The commodity economy has profoundly changed the society, which made the two fundamental pillars of the old order-the noble concept of honor and the religious belief of the lower class-bankrupt together. The monsters such as fraud, greed and animalism, which could only hide in dark corners, are now openly available, and the society is in chaos. The bourgeoisie welcomes this change. The more chaotic and crazy it is, the more opportunities it means to make a fortune. Consumerism is slowly eroding people's vitality. It seems that there are more and more personalities, and it seems that there are fewer and fewer ... Is human being progressing or degenerating? About winners always make progress, while losers always degenerate, while society is always composed of a small number of winners and a large number of losers ... In this era like a good situation and a stormy situation, some people think about who "Europeans" are, and some people call on Europeans to bravely shoulder the sacred responsibility of educating the world. Some people are worried that Europe is becoming more and more weak and can't stop the invasion of barbarians in the East and Africa ... But the mainstream of public opinion still thinks that the future is bright. Under the guidance of the idea of "don't toss, don't mess" and with the help of more and more advanced machines, mankind will gradually eliminate various crises and create an unprecedented golden age ... In this silly atmosphere, Nietzsche predicted that there would be an unprecedented war.
In Look at this Man, Nietzsche wrote: "I know my destiny. One day, my name will be associated with those memories of terrible things-memories of the unprecedented crisis, memories of the deepest conflict of conscience, and memories of the decision that provoked confrontation with everything that has been believed, demanded and put on a sacred coat so far. I'm not a person, I'm an explosive-even so, there's no sense of being a leader in my bones-religion is a commonplace thing. After contact with religious people, I must wash my hands … I don't want any' believers'. I don't think I'm so insidious as to believe in myself. I never talk to ordinary people ... I'm afraid that one day people will respect me as a saint. You will surely guess, why did I publish this book first, that is, to prevent it from ruining me ... All the products of power in the old society will be blown to pieces-because they all started with lies. There must be a war, an unprecedented war on earth. From me, there will be great politics in the world. "
II
There are many opinions about the causes of the two world wars. We believe that the first time was a war of imperialism to carve up colonies and compete for world hegemony, and the second time was only a continuation of the first time, only with the characteristics of fascism. In Britain and the United States, both times were confrontations between democracy and autocracy. In the eyes of Catholics, it is the result of atheism and abandonment of Christian faith. In the eyes of the author of A General History of the World, a popular historical reading, the first war was only due to the wrong formation of two military alliance treaties. Economists' views are better known to the public at present.
these are all explanations after the fact. Nietzsche, as a prophet, also has his own explanation. What made him make this prediction was the profound crisis he felt in European society: the old faith had been shattered and the new faith had not yet formed; Instead of creating culture and great individuals, society blindly follows the vulgar road of democracy and egalitarianism, strangling individuals, and regards making ordinary people with dull intelligence and docile obedience cheap and happy as social justice and kindness. What is the purpose of human existence? Why is everyone busy? Isn't it right to produce a new Caesar, a new Napoleon and a new Goethe? What harm will it do to human society if there are trillions of worker ants and worker bees missing? Most people's intelligence can only play the role of worker ants and worker bees. Their existence should only be to work efficiently for the progress of civilization. And what is the significance of the existence of Napoleon and Goethe in the past and in the future? Just not much to produce greater people than them in the future human society. All these people, including those who can only work as worker bees and worker ants, including Napoleon, Goethe and Nietzsche himself, are meaningless in themselves, only the more beautiful and perfect talents that may appear in the future are meaningful; And their work contributed to the birth of those people, so their existence is meaningful. If we look farther ahead, then the existence of people who are greater than us in the future is meaningless. Only those who will be born beyond them because of their work are meaningful. All of us are meaningless, all existing things are meaningless, and only the future, hope, ideal and possibility are meaningful. All people should be organized, divide their work according to their abilities, and work for the creation of great culture and the possibility of life. Only a country organized according to this ideal is good, and it is only ignorant politics that violates this ideal and shouts people's interests, national interests and national interests. If we want to talk about equality, it is possible to have equality in a country based on this ideal. There is no difference between Nietzsche, Goethe and others who are engaged in mediocre work. They are just tools created for themselves by eternal upward life.
The collapse of old beliefs and the rampant moral values of ordinary people will inevitably make European society unsustainable and will inevitably collapse in a doomsday war. This is Nietzsche's judgment. He punctured the pustule that would burst sooner or later, so he called himself "explosive". And a new human being will be born in the ruins. His name will be associated with that terrible end in their memory.
3
Nietzsche is not a nationalist, and he hopes that the German country will benefit from this war. He was a great philosopher who studied the ancient Greek culture and was the pinnacle of human artistic accomplishment. He cared about the future of European culture all his life and had no interest in the national rejuvenation of the Germans. These barbarians in his own country are only interested in their possible performance as cultural inheritors. After the Franco-Prussian War, there was a great revival in Germany. Soldiers boasted about their force, and citizens and literati sang praises along with them. He wrote in "Inappropriate Meditation": Germany won only because of the discipline, obedience and sacrifice of soldiers, which has nothing to do with culture. German public opinion boasted this as a victory of German culture, which only shows that in Germany, it has been foolish enough to lose the concept of culture; Germany is still an apprentice to France, which was defeated by it, and studied badly, but mistakenly thought that it had any valuable German characteristics and thought about carrying forward the national essence; The victory of this war only made the cultural tradesmen in Germany more confident.
"Cultural philistine" is the object of all Nietzsche's philosophical criticism. They are highly educated, literate and learned, and are honored as professors, doctors, writers, thinkers and xx scientists. They always pretend to be social elites, as if they would die without European culture. They also represent the conscience of the country and the nation, and they have to come out from time to time to educate the people, as if it were a heavy responsibility that they could not shirk. And their intelligence is no different from ordinary mediocrity. They see the same philistines everywhere in the society, and they can only reflect their poor minds in all spiritual things, so they think they are the "mainstream of society", their minds are the minds that "educated" Germans should have, and their popularity is the victory of German culture and the glory of Germany. The world must exist for them to live in peace, happiness and tranquility. They even began to make bold comments on their predecessors, and regarded what did not conform to their poor minds as the defects of their predecessors.
Today's China people and Han Bang have a peculiar interest in "culture", and they are deeply dissatisfied with not winning Nobel Prize in Literature. It seems that their great rejuvenation and developed country will inevitably lead to cultural prosperity, and it seems that foreigners have won an award, and only when they have been approved and recognized by the civilized world can they be considered as truly great rejuvenation and developed countries. So did that group of Germans. Great Germany's martial arts are outstanding and its national strength is booming. How can it match without culture? Therefore, the previous generation poet Holderlin was held out as an exhibition of national quintessence. This makes Nietzsche feel funny, because the miserable poet was killed by these mediocre people all over Germany. Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, these "German cultures" were alive without suffering from these narrow and poor German mediocrities. Nietzsche himself is actually an example. He worked hard and was exhausted until he became mentally blind, but he remained unknown. No university or "educated" German was willing to admit his "German culture", and occasionally he was cynical. After his death, he was finally granted the title of "German culture", which became the glory of "educated and educated" Germans.
Fourth
On the eve of his mental blindness, he wrote some absurd letters to European dignitaries, such as convening a European conference and assassinating the Kaiser at the conference. All Nietzsche researchers ignored these letters and regarded them as nonsense after madness. It is not pure madness, but it exposes the subconscious in madness: he is looking forward to this war and longing for it, so he is calling on all countries to launch this war as soon as possible. Analyzing Nietzsche's psychology at this time, he felt that Europe was too ill. I'm afraid that the prescription he had prescribed for cultural treatment was invalid, and even if it was effective, no one would adopt it. Therefore, it is better to welcome this war that will come sooner or later. This prescription is too strong, but considering the terminally ill in Europe, there may be nothing wrong with it, at least it can't be any worse. Nietzsche still has many illusions about this war, thinking that it can eliminate the corrupt factors in culture, make people who have strong will and ignore danger become masters, and those who lack will, indulge in senses and become slaves. This will be a war to purify European civilization.
Nietzsche is not a god who really has the ability to predict the prophet, and the real war later was completely different from what he imagined. What he imagined, expected and summoned was an unprecedented melee. Because of the continuous disorderly melee, truly outstanding elements will emerge from all walks of life and form a new aristocratic class. He imagined those ancient times, the civil war at the end of ancient Rome, the Italian city-states in the Renaissance, and France in the Napoleonic era. However, there was no scuffle in the real twentieth century, and the unprecedented development of military skills prevented the possibility of scuffle. Twice in a row, it was only a brief confrontation between two military groups. One side fell to the ground and the other side was exhausted. The emerging United States came out to save the capitalist world that was bound to collapse, while Soviet Russia on the other side chose a new road. Without any purification, the emergence of any outstanding molecules is just two pure and bloody wars. Mankind is no longer dominated by nobles. The nation-state established on the ruins of collapsed empires after the war is based on the principles of national independence and people's equality. If the country is led by outstanding people, these principles can lead to Nietzsche's principle of building a country through culture. However, as time goes on, people become more and more ignorant of what culture is, and more and more feel that their interests are the purpose of the country, so there is no similarity between the two principles.
5
So in the relationship between Nietzsche and Nazism, we can see that Nietzsche is indeed the predecessor of Nazism. He tried to summon Caesar and Napoleon, but Hitler answered. When he looked at this former Austrian painter who believed in him, he must have sighed, but there was not much unhappiness and regret. The world can't be worse than it is now, can it? Let this disciple, who is not fully aware of himself in spiritual cultivation, have a firm belief and strong force to try! Obviously, the disciples of Jesus were not outstanding people who understood the teacher's words deeply, but Christianity was established. The Persian kings who believed in Zoroaster were obviously not extraordinary figures, but they spread his faith. Who can say that Hitler and his descendants can't achieve the same cause for him?
Nietzsche-proficient researchers will definitely disagree with this statement. Nietzsche is a very arrogant aristocrat. In Brandeis' words, he is an "aristocratic radical" (Nietzsche agrees with this label in his reply). He has been criticizing the mediocrity in the cultural field all his life, and he is even more contemptuous of the idols of the lower mediocrity such as the country and the nation. How can he get involved in this secular politics and humiliate himself? Nietzsche did not do this in 1889. He encouraged the war between secular political forces, but would not intervene. He will be like those philosophers in ancient times. When their kings were slaughtered outside, he still sat in the house and engaged in his daily thinking and writing, and even had no interest in listening to war news. But Nietzsche in 192 and 194 did not.
Heidegger's position may give us a glimpse of the similar position of his predecessor Nietzsche. Heidegger obviously doesn't think that Nazism is much consistent with his poetic philosophy, but the distracted, troubled and weak Germans just need a Hitler to unite the hearts of the people and open the way for it. No matter how bad the order is, it is better than no order. Besides, Hitler's order is not bad. He is loyal to this country and the ancient beliefs of this nation, and it is enough to crack down on all philistinism with the slogan of democracy and equality. This is the national leader he is willing to obey. Hitler's crazy expansion will make him uneasy, but what is disturbing is that the use of force on such an unprecedented scale and without restraint will make his country perish. In fact, it is precisely this position that the old rivals of Germany and French intellectuals generally hold. Marshal Petain came forward to form a fascist regime similar to Germany and won the support of most well-known intellectuals. They have had enough of the democracy in the third Republic of France, and it is the kind of democracy that is rampant corruption, constant disputes and centrifugal up and down that has brought them to this end today. In 194, thanks to this democracy, almost no one wanted to fight for this country. Marshal Petain called it "the achievement of Marxism in the past 3 years" because Marxism is the "ultra-left" faction in democracy. ) Charles de Gaulle called on sailors to join his resistance organization in London, but few responded (only 9 out of 2, soldiers), and most of them voluntarily went back to France to do conquered people. How ironic this is compared with their ancestors! But we don't have to blame them. Obviously, the third Republic treated them as "free citizens" no better than Hitler. Although conquered people's taste is very bad, perhaps it is God's will to punish them for their mistakes in the past 7 years.
American poet Pound is one of the most famous masters of modernist literature. During World War II, he cursed capitalism and Jewish bankers on the radio in Rome, and publicized that Mussolini's rule brought justice. At the end of World War II