Abstract

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is famous for his statement that “God is dead” — and for the fact that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis claimed Nietzsche as one of their great inspirations. * Were the Nazis right to do so — or did they misappropriate Nietzsche’s philosophy? * What were the key elements of Hitler and the National Socialists’ political philosophy? * How did the Nazis come to power in a nation as educated and civilized as Germany? * What was Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy — the philosophy of “Live dangerously” and “That which does not kill us makes us stronger”? * And to what extent did Nietzsche’s philosophy provide a foundation for the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis?