Fair enough. Like I said, I’m not a Nietzsche expert, I just had never interpreted his writings in a primarily political context, and I had read a decent amount of commentary from people who did claim to be experts that refuted the idea of him having fascist or anti-Semitic leanings.
WeirdGoesPro
joined 2 years ago
How is this different than the criticism that leftists on Lemmy espouse against modern liberalism?
I have read several of his works, and they never struck me as inherently political—more like a commentary on observable sociological structures. I may just not be clever enough to absorb everything, but I had originally interpreted his work as observational rather than prescriptive.
I am no Nietzsche expert, but I had always heard that a relative in charge of his estate, who was a fascist, took advantage of him in his old age after his brain had been diminished by syphilis. He wasn’t a liberal or leftist by modern standards, but he also didn’t seem to be a fascist or anti-Semite.
Here is an article that seems to support this view:
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/georges-bataille-nietzsche-and-the-fascists
I like to think that at least a dozen would think “oh yeah, that guy, he was cool back when I knew him.”