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I wonder if those books were just for show, or for merely confirming/justifying his pre-existing beliefs. Hitler apparently loved to hold after-dinner "discussi
by oh_sigh 5y ago
I wonder if those books were just for show, or for merely confirming/justifying his pre-existing beliefs. Hitler apparently loved to hold after-dinner "discussions"(mostly soliloquies), and by all reports his viewpoints on the topics that he himself was obsessed with were extremely banal and unsophisticated.
- Zuider 5y agoHitler does appear to have actually read the books as evidenced by the passages marked by coloring pencil. There is not any ready evidence that he gleaned any deep wisdom or moral edification from his reading, and it is far more likely, given his temperament, that he only read to reinforce his prejudices, and that he would become furiously impatient with anything he did not readily understand. Given that, it is one of history's great disappointments that Martin Heidegger never met his hero. One could imagine Der Fueherer's face twitching in increasing rage as Heidegger effused about the great leader's seminal position in the hierarchy of being-in-the-world, leading in short order to a defenestration.
- rob74 5y agoI'm far from a fan of Hitler, but I wonder why it's possible to talk about Stalin as an inspiring figure when the number of people he has killed is comparable (if not greater) than Hitler's victims (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_mortality_in_the_Soviet_Union_under_Joseph_Stalin#Total_number_of_victims https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_mortality_in_the_Soviet...)? Ok, they were mostly "his own" people, but arguably that makes it even worse, not better?