Sherratt - Hitlers Philosophers

Copyright 2013 Yvonne Sherratt

The right of Yvonne Sherratt to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication Data

Sherratt, Yvonne, 1966

Hitler's philosophers / Yvonne Sherratt.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-300-15193-0 (cl : alk. paper) 1. PhilosophersGermanyHistory20th century. 2. Philosophy, German20th century. 3. Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945. I. Title.

193dc23

2012026930

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated to my grandparents

Contents

Illustrations

Adolf Hitler's room in Landsberg, 1923. Getty Images, photograph 24.08.1923.

Hitler reading, Munich, 1931. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich/Fotoarchiv Hoffmann.

Leni Riefenstahl's inscription to Hitler in the first edition of Johann Gottlieb Fichte's Smmtliche Werke, 1848. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Hitler viewing the bust of Friedrich Nietzsche, 12 April 1931. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich/Fotoarchiv Hoffmann.

Hitler meets Elizabeth Nietzsche at the Nietzsche Archive, Weimar, 1935. bpk, Berlin.

Carl Schmitt, 1930. Ullstein Bild.

Book burning, Berlin, 10 May 1933. bpk, Berlin/Bayerische Staatsbibliothek/Heinrich Hoffmann.

Heidegger at a public demonstration of support for Nazism by German professors, 11 November 1933. Ullstein Bild.

Walter Benjamin in the Bibliothque Nationale, photograph by Gisle Freund, 1937. Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, dist. RMN/Gisle Freund/Guy Carrard.

Adorno at his desk in Yale Street, Santa Monica, CA, 1949. T.W. Adorno Archiv, Frankfurt am Main/photographer: Franz Roehn.

Hannah Arendt, c. 1930. Granger Collection/TopFoto.

Kurt Huber, c. 1941. Gedenksttte Deutscher Widerstand.

Roland Freisler. Bundesarchiv, Bild 151-39-23/photograph: o.Ang.

Interior of the Nuremberg courtroom, 30 September 1946. Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-H27798/photograph: o.Ang.

1 Adolf Hitler's room in Landsberg, 1923.

2 Hitler reading a book in SA uniform, Munich, 1931.

3 Leni Riefenstahl's inscription to Hitler in the first edition of Johann Gottlieb Fichte's Smmtliche Werke (1848).

4 Hitler viewing the bust of Friedrich Nietzsche, 12 April 1931.

5 Hitler meets Elizabeth Nietzsche at the Nietzsche Archive, Weimar, 1935.

6 Carl Schmitt on the podium, 1930.

7 Book burning, Berlin, 10 May 1933.

8 Heidegger at a public demonstration of support for Nazism by German professors, 11 November 1933.

9 Walter Benjamin in the Bibliothque Nationale, photograph by Gisle Freund, 1937.

10 Adorno at his desk in Yale Street, Santa Monica, 1949.

11 Hannah Arendt, c. 1930.

12 Kurt Huber, c. 1941.

13 Roland Freisler, President of the People's Court, 19425: Hitler's Hanging Judge.

14 Interior of the Nuremberg courtroom, 30 September 1946.

Acknowledgements

T his book has benefited from the generosity and expertise of a number of friends and colleagues. I would like to express my greatest thanks to Keith Ansell-Pearson, Cliff Davies, Ian Drury, Helen Dunmore, Mark Griffith, Henry Hardy, John Hatcher, Roger Hausheer, John Herod, Eric Hobsbawm, Mike Inwood, Edward Kanterian, Ian Kershaw, Ben Mason, Robert Mayhew, Thomas Moffatt, Alan Montefiore, Stephen Mulhall, New College, Oxford, Brian O'Connor, Helen Opie, Michael Rosen, Gerd Simon and Nigel Simmonds. Thanks also to Robert Baldock, Rachael Lonsdale, my copy-editor Richard Mason, and the anonymous readers for Yale University Press.

Dramatis Personae

Adorno, Theodor (19031969) Important Jewish-German philosopher, sociologist and musicologist, member of the Frankfurt School.

Arendt, Hannah (19061975) Leading Jewish-German political philosopher, mistress of Martin Heidegger, married to the communist Heinrich Blcher.

Bumler, Alfred (18871968) Nazi professor of philosophy, University of Berlin.

Benjamin, Walter (18921940) Influential Jewish-German writer and thinker, close friend of Adorno and Arendt.

Bergmann, Ernst (18811945) Nazi professor of philosophy, University of Leipzig.

Boehm, Max Hildebert (18911968) Nazi, philosopher and sociologist, University of Jena.

Cassirer, Ernst (18741945) Leading Jewish-German philosopher.

Chamberlain, Houston Stewart (18551927) British-born German author, married to Richard Wagner's daughter, Eva, adored by Hitler.

Darwin, Charles (18091882) Leading naturalist of his times, founding father of the theory of evolution.

Faust, August (18951945) Nazi professor of philosophy, University of Breslau.