Slavoj Žižek claimed:
“Is it not too simple to relieve Nietzsche of responsibility by claiming that the Nazis distorted his thought? Of course they did, but so did Stalinism distort Marx, so was every theory changed (betrayed) in its practico-political application, and a Hegelian point to be made here is that, in such cases, the “truth” is not simply on the side of theory. What if the attempt to actualize a theory renders visible the objective content of this theory, concealed from the gaze of the theorist himself?” – Slavoj Žižek, “Intellectuals, Not Gadflies”, 2008
I respond:
While it is true that many philosophers don’t foresee all of the ways their ideas can be used, I think Žižek is way off base implying that there is a secret fascism in Nietzsche of which even Nietzsche was unaware.
A totalitarian is a political sociopath and thus will do whatever is needed to retain power. The Nazis and the Soviets used a wide range of cultural and intellectual references for propaganda purposes. In the case of the Nazis, there was basically nothing German (as long as it wasn’t also Jewish) that they did not distort to justify their ideology. Saying that the Nazis made visible some latent fascism of Nietzsche’s philosophy is as silly as claiming Strauss had secret fascist undertones in his waltzes because Hitler played Strauss at official state functions.
Also, it should be noted that Nietzsche was quite clear about his anti-totalitarian views and made it equally clear that the Übermensch had zero fascist tendencies. Nietzsche’s letters even more than his books show someone who was deeply opposed to all forms of totalitarianism. So, I find Žižek’s comment baseless. It is paranoia, not philosophy, to see fascism lurking behind everything.
