German Nihilism

Leo Strauss
Edited
by

David Janssens
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Daniel

Tanguay
of Ottawa

University

The

following
of

lecture

textual evidence, on

by Leo Strauss was delivered, according to internal February 26, 1941, in the General Seminar of the Graduate
Social Science
of the

Faculty

Political

and

New School for Social Research

in New York. The text Leo Strauss's thought

climate of prewar

will prove

to be of particular
more

interest both for

students of

generally interested in the intellectual Germany. For the former, the lecture presents itself as one of
and

for those

the rare occasions on which Professor Strauss suspended his customary reti

directly addressed an important contemporary issue. For the latter, it offers an interesting and compelling outlook on the intellectual currents of one of this century's key periods. Finally, both audiences will find that Professor
cence and

Strauss

combines

his

philosophical rigor and

perspicacity

with

firsthand knowl
and raised

edge of the problem under discussion. As "a young

Germany,"

Jew, bom

in

he

was without

doubt

well acquainted with

the phenomenon of Ger

man

nihilism, the influence it exerted in

postwar and prewar

Germany, its key

be found in
of

representatives and

its historical

origins.

The basis
the Leo

of this edition

is

a typewritten manuscript which can

at

Strauss Papers (Box 8, Folder 15)

of

the Regenstein

Library

The

University
ten pages.

Chicago. The

manuscript consists of twenty-five

mostly typewrit

It bears many
some

corrections and

additions, some of them inserted

by

typewriter,

by

porated the changes edition

might

hand. In preparing the text, we have systematically incor and additions made by Professor Strauss so that the present
reflect

faithfully

his for
a

actual

presentation.

We

note

the few in

stances

in

which we

have

edited

readability.

We have

also

taken the

liberty
some

of correcting, without points

comment,

few

misspellings

in the typescript. At

in

the text Professor

Strauss

made a more substantial addition

with a short comment.

in hand

writing: these are mentioned

in the text,

In

some cases

the

handwriting

was

difficult to

read or altogether

illegible: this is indicated

interpretation,

Spring 1999,

Vol. 26, No. 3

354

Interpretation
parentheses

between

underlined

by

in the text, Professor Strauss,

as well as some

in the

notes.

Certain

words

were

by

typewriter,

some

by by

hand: in the
number

present edition these of

have been italicized. With

a view to

restricting the

notes, single words

which were either added or underlined

hand

are

indi

cated

in the text

with an asterisk

languages have in the

bles

other than

English have been italicized

immediately following by the

the

word.

Words from

editors.

Finally,

we

added some additional notes.

reader will

information concerning names,

sources and

dates

As the

remark, the present edition begins with two different ta

of these

of contents.

The first
on a

is

part of

the original typescript, while the

second was

found

handwritten

sheet attached to the typescript.

The

latter,
as

however,
is

provides a more accurate synopsis of

the

contents of the

lecture

it

presented.

For this reason,

Professor

we

have

chosen to

include it

directly

after the

original table of contents.

Jenny Strauss Clay and Professor Joseph Cropsey for their generous help in deciphering Professor Strauss's handwriting. Professor Cropsey, Leo Strauss's literary executor, has also generously given permission for
We
are grateful to

this publication.

German Nihilism
Graduate

355

Faculty

of

Political

and

Social Science

New School for Social Research, 66 West 12 Street, New York, N. Y.

General Seminar: Experiences

of

the

Second World War

February 26,

1941

German Nihilism
I.
a

Leo Strauss

The

questions:

(a) What is

nihilism?

(b)

How far

can nihilism

be

said to

be

specifically German German

can nihilism

phenomenon?

II. It

is

a phenomenon much

broader than National Socialism.

type of

be described provisionally as the young atheist to the communist ideal. III. The
nihilism of the

passionate reaction of a certain

young

and the positivism of the old.

IV.

The

nihilistic

meaning

of the

term "wave of the

future."

V.

Nihilism is defined

as the rejection of the principles of civilization as such.

VI.

German

nihilism rejects

the principles of civilization as such in

favor

of

war and of warlike

ideals.

VII.

German

nihilism

is

a radicalized

form

of

German

militarism.

VIII.

One

of the roots of

German

militarism

is

moralism.

IX.

The

present

Anglo-German

war

is

a war about principles.

German Nihilism

1.

The

questions:

What is

nihilism?

And how far

can nihilism

be

said

to be a

specifically German
German

phenomenon?

2.

nihilism

is the genus,

of which

National

socialism

is the

best-

known

species.

356
I.

Interpretation
The ultimate,
non-nihilistic motive

underlying German

nihilism.

3.

The inseparable

connection

of

morality

and

the closed

society:

the

moral protest against

the principle

of modem civilisation.

II.

The

situation

in

which that non-nihilistic motive

led to

nihilism.

4.

German

nihilism

is the

reaction of a certain type of

young

atheist to the

communist

ideal

or prediction. of youth to

5.

On the affinity

nihilism, and the

nihilistic consequences of

the emancipation of youth.

6.
aim

On the affinity of progressivism to nihilism: progressivism leaves the undefined; it therefore opposes an indefinite No to the given order.
nihilism?

III. What is
man ?

And how far

can nihilism

be

said to

be specifically Ger Civil

7.

Nihilism is the

rejection of the principles of civilisation as such.

isation is the 8. 9.

conscious culture of sense

human reason, i.e.

science and morals.

Nihilism in the any German

defined is

characteristic of present

day Germany

rather than of

other country.

nihilism rejects
virtues.

the principles of civilisation as such in favor of

war and

the warlike

10. 1 1.

German German

nihilism nihilism

is therefore

akin to

German
of

militarism. and

is

a radicalized
of

form
the

German militarism,

that

radicalization modem

is due to the victory development as a whole.

nihilism of

romantic opinion

concerning the ideal

which

12.

German

is

related

to the

reaction

to the modem

is

characteristic

German idealist morality

of

philosophy:

and self-denial vs.

self-interest;

courage

morality is the only unambig

claimed

of self-sacrifice

uously non-utilitarian virtue. 13. German idealism, while opposing Western philosophy,
synthesis of the modem not work;
modem

to be a

ideal
of

with the pre-modem

ideal;

that synthesis did

acceptance of the

the

influence

German idealism

made the

ideal impossible; the Germans had to fall back

on

on the pre-modem

ideal: that is to say,

the pre-modem
a polemic

ideal

as

interpreted

by

German

idealism, i.e.,
14. The

as

interpreted in ideal is

intention

against the enlighten

ment; and therefore: on

modem

a modem

distortion

of the pre-modem

ideal.
a tradi

of

English

origin: the

German tradition is
a

tion of criticism of the modem

amalgamation of the modem overemphasized the

ideal. While the English found

with

ideal

the classical
so much

ideal,
they

the

working Germans

break in the tradition

that

were

ultimately

led from the

rejection of modern civilisation

to the rejection of the principle

of civilisation as
perial

such,
the

i.e.,

to nihilism. The
as

English
of

gentlemen as an

im

nation

vs.

German Herren

a nation

provincial,

resentful

fanatics.

German Nihilism
GERMAN NIHILISM. LECTURE TO BE DELIVERED ON FEBRUARY, 26, 1941.

357

1. What is

nihilism?

And how far

am not able

can nihilism
answer

be

said

to

be

specifically

German
to

phenomenon?

to

these questions; I can merely

try

elaborate*

them a

little. For the

phenomenon which

am

going to discuss, is
of an
adequate

much

too complex, and much too little explored, to

within

permit

description
scratch

the short time at my

disposal. I

cannot

do

more

than to

its

surface.
we

2. When
of us

hear

at

the present time the expression "German

nihilism,"

most

stood

naturally think at once of National Socialism. It must however be under from the outset that National Socialism is only the most famous* form of
nihilism

German

its lowest,

most

provincial, most

unenlightened

and

most

dishonourable form. It is if appalling, mately sarily To

shall successes.

its very vulgarity accounts for its great, These successes may be followed by failures, and ulti
probable that of

by

complete

defeat. Yet the defeat

National Socialism

will not neces

mean

the end of German nihilism. For that nihilism has deeper roots than

the preachings of
explain

Hitler, Germany's defeat in

propose

the World War and all that.

German nihilism, I in itself

I

to proceed in the

following

way.

first
is

explain not

the ultimate motive which

nihilistic. shall

motive

then describe the

is underlying German nihilism; this situation in which that

non-nihilistic motive such a

led to

nihilistic aspirations.

Finally, I
from the
of that

shall attempt

to give the

definition

of nihilism as

is

not assailable

point of view of

non-nihilistic motive

in question,

and on the

basis

definition,'

to describe

German

nihilism somewhat more might mean:

velle

fully.
nihil, to will the nothing, the destruction of therefore primarily the will to self-destruc

3. Nihilism
everything,

including

oneself,

and

tion. I am told that there are human

not

beings

who

have

such strange

desires. I do
nihil

believe, however,

that such a

desire is the

ultimate motive of

German

to

ism. Not only does the se-//*-destruction. But

ultimate

unarmed eye not notice even

if

such

any desire were

unambiguous signs of a will

demonstrated*

to be the

motive,

we still should

be

at a

loss to fin de

understand
siecle

why that desire took

alcoholism, but of
even

on

the

form,
To

not of the explain

mood called
nihilism

or of

militarism.

German
explain

in terms

of mental

diseases, is

less
to

advisable than

it is to

in

such terms

the desire

of a cornered gangster

bump

doubleoff together with himself a couple of cops and the fellow who

crossed

him;

not

being
of

Stoic, I
is
that

could not call

that*

desire

a morbid

desire.2

The fact

of the matter

German

nihilism

is

not absolute

nihilism, desire

for the destruction

of

everything
almost*

including

oneself, but

desire for the destruction

so, limited

specific:*

something nihilism becomes

of modern civilisation.
absolute nihilism

That, if I may say

reason:

an

only for this

because the

negation of modem civilisation,

the

No, is

not

guided, or accompanied,

by

any

clear positive conception.

358

Interpretation
nihilism

German

desires the destruction

a moral meaning.

of modem civilisation as

far

as mod

em civilisation

has

As

everyone
moral

knows, it does

not object so

much to modem

technical*

devices. That

to which the

German

nihilists

meaning of modem civilisation object, is expressed in formulations such as these:

to relieve man's estate; or: to safeguard the

rights

of

man; or: the

greatest possible

happiness
lar

of the greatest possible number.

What is the

protest against modem of the

civilisation, against the spirit of

underlying the the West*, and in particu

motive

Anglo-Saxon*

West?
a moral protest.

The

answer must

be: it is

That

protest proceeds

from the it

conviction

that the internationalism inherent in

establishment of a

modem

civilisation, or, more

which

precisely, that the

perfectly

open

society

is

as

were

the goal of modem civilisation, and therefore all aspirations

directed toward life. That

protest and

that goal, are irreconcilable with the basic demands of moral

proceeds

from the

conviction that the root of all moral

life is essentially

therefore eternally the closed society; from the conviction that the open society

is bound to be, if
and

not

immoral,

at

least

amoral:

the meeting ground of seekers of

pleasure, of gain, of irresponsible power, indeed of any kind of

irresponsibility

lack

of

seriousness.3

Moral life, it is asserted,

of seriousness of the
closed

means serious

life. Seriousness,
,

and the ceremonial

the

flag

and the oath to the

society,

of the

society

flag which by

are the

distinctive features

confronted

with, and
war.

ment,

M-day,

basically Only life in

duty

oriented

its very nature, is constantly toward, the Ernstfall, the serious mo

atmosphere, only
to which
and all
a

such a tense

life

which

is

based

on constant awareness of the

sacrifices*

it

owes

its existence,

and of

the necessity, the

sublime

of sacrifice of

life

human: the

is

unknown

to the open

society."

worldly goods, is truly The societies of the West

are closed societies

which claim state of on

to

aspire

toward the open society,

moral

actually

in

disintegration: their

value, their respectability, depends entirely

their still

being

closed societies.

Let

us pursue

this argument a little

further. The
not proved

open

society, it is asserted, is

actually impossible. Its possibility is

progress*

at all

toward the open society. For that progress

merely
present

verbal.

Certain basic facts

of

human

nature

by what is called the largely fictitious or which have been honestly

is
spade,
are at

recognized

by

earlier generations who used to call a spade a

the
and

time verbally

denied, superficially
who

covered over
war

by fictions

legal

others, e.g.,

by

the

belief that

one can abolish

military forces punishing him

war*

breaks
calling
the

the pact, or

ministries of defence* or

by

by pacts not backed by by calling ministries of punishment sanctions, or by calling

capital punishment

das hochste
also*

Strafmass.5

to the closed

society

because

The open society is morally inferior former is based on hypocrisy.

underlying the protest against modem civilisation has ba sically nothing to do with bellicism, with love of war; nor with nationalism: for there were closed societies which were not nations; it has indeed something to

The

conviction

German Nihilism
do
the
with what

359

is

called the sovereign

state, insofar as the sovereign

state offers convic

best

modem example of a closed

society in

the sense

indicated. The
love

tion I am

trying
love

to

describe,

is not, to repeat, in its

or

origin a

of war:

it

is

rather a

of

morality,

a sense of

responsibility for

endangered morality.

The historians in Plato's

our midst

know that conviction,

above

passion, from

Glaukon's,

brother's,

passionate protest against the

noble virtue.

They
the

know it,

city of pigs, in the name of all, from Jean- Jacques Rousseau's passionate

protest against

taste,

and

easy-going and somewhat rotten civilisation of the century of from Friedrich Nietzsche's passionate protest against the easy-going
century
of

and somewhat rotten civilisation of the

industry. It turned, if in

was the same a much more

passion

let there be

no mistake about that

which

passionate and

tion of

infinitely less intelligent form, against the alleged or real corrup post-war Germany: against "the subhuman beings of the big cities (die
Grossstadt),"

Untermenschen der
etc. shown

against

"cultural bolshevism

(Kulturbolscheas

wismus),"

That passion,

or conviction

is then

not

in itself nihilistic,

is

by

the examples of Plato and

Rousseau, if

examples are needed at all.

(One may even wonder whether it was not a sound demand, remembering, e.g., the decision of the Oxford students not to fight for king and country and some more recent facts.) While not nihilistic in itself, and perhaps even not being

entirely unsound, that

owing to
the

conviction

led however to

nihilism

in

post-war

Germany
in
suffi

a number of circumstances.

Of those circumstances, I
of this seminar nor

shall mention

survey

which

follows, only

those which, to my mind, have not

been

ciently

emphasized

in the discussions

in the literature

on

the

subject.6

4. One

would

have to

possess a gift which

reporter, in
post-war
ism.7

order to give those of you who an

adequate*

have

I totally lack, the gift of not lived for many

lyrical

years

in

Germany,
me

idea

of the emotions

underlying German

nihil

Let

tentatively define
a

nihilism as

the desire to

destroy

the present

world and

its potentialities, develop. be

desire

not accompanied

by

any

clear conception

of what one wants to put

in its

place.

And let

us

try

to understand how such a

desire No
racy
with

could

one could

satisfied with the post-war world. seemed

German liberal democ

of all

descriptions

to many

people

to be absolutely unable to cope

the

difficulties

with which

Germany

was confronted.

This

created a pro

found prejudice, liberal

open.

or confirmed a profound prejudice as such.

democracy
One
about

Two

articulate

already in existence, against alternatives to liberal democracy were

was simple

reaction, as expressed

by

the Crown Prince

Ruprecht

of

Bavaria in The

these terms: "Some people say that the wheel of

error."

history

cannot

be turned back. This is

older ones

an

The

other alternative was more

interesting.

in

our midst still remember

the time when certain people as

serted that the conflicts

inherent in the
or

present situation would another

necessarily lead
a

to a revolution, accompanying

following

World War

rising

of

the

proletariat and of the proletarianized strata of

society

which would usher

in the

360

Interpretation
of the

withering away
tion and

State,

the classless society, the abolition of all exploita

injustice,

the era of

final

peace.

It

was this prospect at

least

as much as

the desperate present, which

without rulers and

led to

nihilism.

The

prospect of a pacified

planet,

ruled, of

planetary society devoted to

production and con

sumption
rial

only, to the production and consumption of

was

spiritual as well as mate

positively horrifying very decent, if very young, Germans. They did

merchandise,
cause

to quite a few very

not object

intelligent
prospect

and

to that

be

were worrying about their own economic and social position; for in that respect they had no longer anything to lose. Nor did they object certainly to it for religious reasons; for, as one of their spokesmen (E. Jiinger) said, they

they

knew*

that

they

were

the*

sons and grandsons and great-grandsons of godless

men.

What they hated, was the very prospect of a world in which everyone would be happy and satisfied, in which everyone would have his little pleasure

by day
beat

and

his little

pleasure

by

night, a world in

which no great

heart

could

and no great soul could

a world without

fice, i.e.
Germans

breathe, a world without real, unmetaphoric, sacri blood, sweat, and tears. What to the communists
of the

appeared to

be the fulfilment

dream
of

of

mankind, appeared to those young

as the not

as the greatest

debasement

humanity,

coming

of the end of

humanity,
they
put quel:

as the arrival of the

latest
a

were unable to express

in

They really know, and thus clear language, what they desired to tolerably
man.

did

in the

place of the present world and

its allegedly necessary future

or se

the only

thing

of which

they

were

absolutely

certain was that the present

world and all

the potentialities of the present world as such, must

the otherwise

be destroyed
final
the

in

order to

prevent

necessary coming
the chaos, the

of the communist

order:

literally

anything, the

nothing*

jungle,
they
which

the Wild

West,

Hobbian

state of

nature, seemed to them

future.8

infinitely

better than the

communist-

anarchist-pacifist more than:

Their Yes
proved

was

inarticulate

were unable to

say

No! This No

however

sufficient as the preface to action, to

occurs

the action of
whenever

destruction. This is the

expression

phenomenon
nihilism.

to me

first

I hear the

German

It is

question.

lution

hardly necessary to point out the fallacy committed by the young men in They simply took over the communist thesis that the proletarian revo and proletarian dictatorship is necessary, if civilisation is not to perish.
rather more

But they insisted

room

than the communists on the conditional character

not

of the communist prediction

((/"civilisation is

to perish). That condition left

for

choice:

they
of

chose what

according

to the communists was the only

alternative ment was

to communism. In other words:

in favour

ible

argument what

they admitted that all rational argu communism; but they opposed to that apparently invinc they called "irrational Unfortunately, all rational
decision."

argument

they knew of,

was

historical argument,

or more precisely: statements

about the probable

future,

predictions,

which were

based

on

analysis of the
social

past, and above all, of the present. For that modem astrology,

predicting

German Nihilism
science, had taken hold
emphasized
of a

361

very large

part of the academic

people.9

youth.

I have

before that

the nihilists were young

5. One
was

or

the other modem pedagogue would perhaps

nihilism.

feel that

not

everything
are

bad in that

For, he

might

argue, it is

not unnatural

that the intel

ligent

section of a

young

generation should

be dissatisfied

with what a

they

told
a

to believe
new

by

the older generation, and that

they

should

have

strong desire for

word, for a word expressing their youth, for an

longings,

and, considering that moderation

is

not a virtue of

extreme word.

Moreover, he

would

conceivably
unable

say, it

is

not unnatural
new

that the young people,

are unable

being

constitutionally lover

to

discover that

word,

to express in articulate language

more than

the negation of the aspirations of the older generation. A

might

of paradoxes

be tempted to

assert an essential

affinity

of youth to nihilism.

should

be far

the to
as

last to

deny

the

juvenile

character of that specific nihilism which

I have tried in
so

describe. But I
I

must

disagree

with the modem pedagogue all the more

am convinced that about the most

what

dangerous thing for these young

men was

precisely teachers,
to

is

called progressive education:

they

rather needed old-fashioned

such old-fashioned teachers of course as would

be

undogmatic enough

understand

the

aspirations

of

their

pupils.

Unfortunately,

the

belief in

old-fashioned
which great

teaching declined considerably in

made on

post-war

Germany. The inroads founded

William II had
of the

the old and noble educational system

were not

by

liberals

early 19th century,

one

discontinued, but

rather enlarged

by
of

the

Republic. To this

may

add the

influence

of the political emancipation

youth, the fact

frequently

referred to as the children's vote.

Nor

ought we

to

forget that

some of

the young nihilists who refused to undergo severe intellectual

discipline*

were sons or younger

brothers

of men and women who

had

under

gone what

may be described
of

as the emotional

discipline

of the youth

movement,

of a movement which preached the emancipation of youth.

been

century Germany Needless to say that not in all cases the natural progress from adolescence to senility ever interrupted by a period however short of maturity.
called the

the

child:

in

it

proved

Our century has once to be the age of the

adolescent.

was*

The decline
I have
speaking,

of reverence

for

old age

found its
of

most

telling

expression

in Hitler's

shameless reference to the alluded to the

prior

imminent death

the aged President Hindenburg.

fact that the young nihilists were atheists. Broadly to the World War, atheism was a preserve of the radical left, just
atheism was

as throughout

history

had been

connected with philosophic material

ism. German philosophy

were theists or pantheists.

predominantly idealistic, and the German idealists Schopenhauer was, to my knowledge, the first non

materialist and conservative atheism.

with

German

philosopher

who

openly

professed

his

But Schopenhauer's influence fades into but indispensable

insignificance, if

compared

that of Nietzsche. Nietzsche asserted that the atheist assumption is not only

reconcilable with,

and anti-pacifist policy:

according to

for, a radical anti-democratic, anti-socialist, him, even the communist creed is only a

362

Interpretation
form
of theism, of the belief in providence. There is no other phi influence on postwar German thought is comparable to that of

secularized

losopher
I I

whose

Nietzsche,
am

of the atheist

Nietzsche. I
of the

cannot

dwell

on

this important point, since

am not a theologian.

gentleman who

is

much more versed

Professor Carl Mayer

Graduate

Faculty
it

will

in theology than certainly devote to in

an article to

this aspect of
published

German
I

nihilism all the attention

requires

be

in Social

Research.

The
plain

adolescents

am

speaking of,

were

in

need of teachers who could ex not

to them in articulate language the positive, and

of

merely

destructive,
in that

meaning

their aspirations.

They

believed to have found

such teachers

group of professors and writers who knowingly or ignorantly paved the way for Hitler (Spengler, Moeller van den Bruck, Carl Schmitt, [illegible], Ernst Jiinger, Heidegger). If
we want

to understand the singular success, not of

Hitler, but

of

those writers, we must cast a quick glance at their opponents who were at the
same time the opponents of the

frequently
the

a grave mistake.

young nihilists. Those opponents committed They believed to have refuted the No by refuting
not

Yes, i.e.
did

the

inconsistent, if
try

silly, positive assertions of the young

not

men.

But

one cannot refute what one not even

has

thoroughly

understood.

And many op

ponents

to understand the ardent passion underlying the nega

tion of the present world and its potentialities. As a consequence, the very
refutations confirmed the nihilists

in their belief;

all these refutations seemed to

beg

the question; most of the refutations seemed to consist of pueris things which the young people knew already

decantata,
or meth

of repetitions of

by

heart. Those

young

men

had did

come to

doubt seriously,
of modem

and not

merely methodically

odologically, the
civilisation would who

principles*

civilisation; the

great authorities of that

no

have been listened to

longer impress them; it was evident that only such opponents who knew that doubt from their own experience, hard
and

through years of

opponents

did

not meet

that condition.

independent thinking had overcome it. Many They had been brought up in the belief
and a

in the is

principles of modem

civilisation;

belief in

which one

is brought up,

apt to

degenerate into
nihilists

prejudice*

Consequently,

the attitude of the opponents

of the

young

tended to become apologetic. Thus it came to pass that

the most ardent upholders of the principle of progress, of an

sive

principle,

were compelled

to take a

the mind,

taking

defensive ideal

stand

essentially aggres defensive stand; and, in the realm of looks like admitting defeat. The ideas of
generation to

modem civilisation appeared to the

young

be the

old

ideas;

thus

the adherents of the

of progress were

in the

awkward position that

they

had to resist, in the

called the wave of

manner of

conservateurs,

what

in the

meantime

has been

the

future.

the
the

heavy

burden

of a

tradition

movement

young nihilists, not and in the wars

They made the impression of being loaded with hoary with age and somewhat dusty, whereas hampered by any tradition, had complete freedom of
of the mind no

less than in
nihilists

real

wars, freedom of
all the

action spells victory.

The

opponents of the

young

had

advantages,

German Nihilism
but likewise all the
the

363

disabilities, of the intellectually propertied class confronted by

intellectual proletarian, the sceptic. The situation of modem civilisation in general, and of its backbone, which is modem science, both natural and civil in
particular, appeared to be comparable to that of
emergence of methods and scholasticism

shortly before the

perfection of appeared apt

the new science of the 17th century: the technical

the

terminology of the old school, communism included,

to be a

strong argument against the old school. For technical perfection is basic problems. Or, if you wish, the bird of the goddess of wisdom
only*

to

hide the its flight

post-war

starts

when

the sun

is

setting.

It

was

certainly

characteristic of

German

thought that the output of technical

reached astronomic proportions.

young nihilists, had to be

given

terms, at no time negligible in Germany, The only answer which could have impressed the in non-technical language. Only one answer was
have impressed the young
period nihilists

given which was adequate and which would

if

they had heard it. It was not however given by a German and it year 1940 only. Those young men who refused to believe that the
the

was given

in the

following
have been defeat in

jump

into liberty,

following
in

the communist world revolution, would be the

finest hour impressed

Flanders

of mankind

general and of

Germany in

particular,

would

as much as we were,

by

what

Winston Churchill in the life

said after the

about

Britain's finest hour. For

one of their greatest teachers

of

had taught
which was

them to see
ancient*

in Cannae the

greatest moment

that glory

Rome."

6. I have tried to it for

circumscribe

the intellectual and moral situation in

which a

nihilism emerged which was not granted

in

all cases

base in its

origin.

Moreover, I

take

that not everything to which the young nihilists objected, was

unobjectionable, and that not every writer or speaker whom

respectable.

they despised,
is
not

was

Let

us

beware

discretion. And let

or

us not

by solidarity forget that the highest duty of the scholar, truthfulness

of a sense
of
which

limited

justice,

acknowledges

no

limits. Let I

us

then not

hesitate to look for

one

moment at

the

phenomenon which

called

nihilism, from the

point of view of

"Nihilism,"

the nihilists themselves.

who

they

would

say, is a

slogan used

by

those

do

not understand

the new, who see merely the rejection of their cherished

ideals,

the destruction

of their spiritual property, who

judge the

new

by its

first

words and expression.

deeds,
How

which

are, of necessity,

a caricature rather than an adequate

adequate expression of

can a reasonable man expect an

the

ideal

of a new epoch at
when the sun

its flight

its beginning, considering that the owl of Minerva starts is setting? The Nazis? Hitler? The less is said about him, is merely the rather contemptible the birth of the new epoch, of a
nothing
of the genius at whose

the better. He will soon be forgotten. He

of

tool
new

"History": the

midwife who assists at

spirit;

and a midwife

usually

understands

birth
new

she assists; she

is

not even supposed to

be

a competent gynaecologist.

the whole world; in the meantime reality is in the making; it is transforming Nazis are as unsubstantial as nothing. The a fertile there is: nothing, but

clouds; the sky is hidden at

present

by

those*

devasclouds which announce a

364

Interpretation
storm, but
at

tating

the same time the long-needed rain which

and

will

bring

new what

life to the dried up soil;

which

(here I

am almost

quoting) do
end of an

not

lose hope;

appears to you the end of the

world, is merely the

epoch, of the epoch

began in 1517

or so.

frankly

confess, I do not see how those can

resist the voice of that siren who expect the answer to the question

first

and the

last
the

from

"History,"

from the future

as

such*

who mistake analysis of

present or past or

future for philosophy;

progressive and

who

believe in

a progress toward a

goal which

is itself

therefore undefinable; who are not guided

a standard which

by

known

and stable standard:

by

is

stable and not change

able, and

which

is known

and not

merely believed. In

other

words, the lack of

resistance to nihilism seems contempt of

to be due ultimately to the depreciation and the

one and unchangeable or on

reason,

which

is

it is not, forces

and of science. which cause

For if

reason

is changeable, it is dependent
servant or slave of

those

its

changes; it is a

the emotions; and it will be hard to make a

noble and

distinction

which

is

not

arbitrary, between

base emotions,

once one

has denied the rulership of reason. A German intimate intercourse with the superhuman father
as*

who could

boast

of a

life-long
us
origina

of all nihilism,

has informed

reliably,

as we were ever

informed

by

any inspired author, that the

tor of all nihilism admitted: "Just despise reason and science, the very highest
power of

man, and I have got you

completely."12

7. I had to
and read

condense a number of recollections of what

I have heard, seen,

re

while

was

living

in Germany, into the

foregoing fragmentary

marks, because I had to convey an impression of an irrational movement and of the frequently irrational reactions to it, rather than a reasoned argument. I have
now,

however,

reached the point where not without not

can venture to submit a

definition

of

nihilism.

I do this

trepidation. Not

because

the

definition

which

am

going to suggest, does

live up to the

requirements of an

orderly*

defini

tion (for I know that sins of that kind are the ones which are more easily

forgiven);
reason.13

nor

It

will

because it is in any way novel, but for precisely the opposite seem to most of you that it is a commonplace and that it

consists of commonplaces.

this: I expected to

find

The only thing which I can say to definition of nihilism as a matter book.

justify

myself, is

of course

in Mr.

Rauschning's in that book,

triviality, if
I A
a

well-known gives
me

Only my failure to discover such a definition the courage to indulge in what you will consider a
rejection of the principles of civilisation as

shall then say:

necessary triviality. Nihilism is the is then

a man who

such.

nihilist

knows the
man,

principles of
a

civilisation, if only in

a superficial way.

not a nihilist. This is difference between Ariovistus, the Teutonic chieftain whom Caesar de feated, and Hitler who otherwise have the characteristic qualities of the perfect

A merely

uncivilised

savage, is

the

barbarian (arrogance
turbed the circles of civilisation, and not:

and

cruelty) in

common.

The Roman

soldier who
a soldier.

dis
said

Archimedes,
culture.

was not a

nihilist, but just

For I have

noticed that

many

nihilists are great

German Nihilism
lovers
of

365

culture,

as

distinguished from,

and opposed

to,

civilisation.
which

Besides,
culti

the term culture

vated

leaves it

undetermined what

the

thing is

is to be

(blood

and soil or the mind), whereas the term civilisation

designates inhabitant

at
of

once the process of

making

man a

citizen,

and not a

slave;

an

cities,

and not a

mstic; a lover of peace, and not of war; a polite

possess a

being,

and not

a ruffian.

A tribal community may

culture, i.e. produce, and enjoy,

dances,*

hymns,

songs, ornament of their clothes, of their weapons and pottery,

fairy

tales and what not;

man

it

cannot

however be

civilised.14

wonder

whether*

the

fact that Western

pride, of his

lost

much of not at

his former pride,

a quiet and

becoming
resis

being
to

civilised, is

the bottom of the present lack of

tance to nihilism.

shall

try

be

somewhat more precise.

By

civilisation,

we understand

the

conscious culture of

humanity, i.e.

of

that which makes a human

being

human
all, in

being, i
can

e. the

conscious*

culture of reason.

Human

reason

is active,

above

two ways: as regulating human conduct, and as attempting to understand whatever

be

understood

by

man; as

practical

reason, and as theoretical science, and both

and thus

reason.

The

pillars of civilisation are therefore morals and

without morals scientific effort

united.

For science
of the

degenerates into cynicism,

destroys the basis

itself;

and morals without science

cruelty.

degenerates into
philosophy; it is

superstition and

thus

is

apt to

become fanatic

Science is the
with

attempt to understand the

not

universe and

man; it is therefore identical

modern*

necessarily

identical
noble

with

science.

By morals,

we understand

the rules of decent and

conduct, as

nature applicable to

that not all

conduct.

them; those rules are by their any human being, although we may allow for the possibility human beings have an equal natural aptitude for decent and noble
a reasonable man would understand

Even the

most violent sceptic cannot

or

help from time to time despising,

or even

or

at

least excusing, this

that action and this or that man; a complete analysis of

what

is implied in

such an action of

despising,
I

excusing,

would

lead to that it
will

well-known view of morals which

sketched.

For

our present purpose

suffice
remote

if I illustrate decent from

pain.15

and noble conduct

by

the remark that it

is equally

from

from deriving pleasure inability remark that decent and noble conduct has to other the Or by inflicting
to inflict physical or other pain as the
of

do, not so much with the natural aim of man, as with the means toward that aim:
view

that the end sanctifies the means,

is

tolerably

complete

expression*

immoralism. I
"art"

deliberately

excluded

from the definition

of civilisation. of art and

Hitler,
is

the

best-known
artist

champion of never

nihilism,

is famous for his love

even an

himself. But I any

attempt

or with am

heard that he had anything to do with search for truth to instill the seeds of virtue into the souls of his subjects. I
"art"

confirmed

in this

prejudice

concerning

by

the observation that the

founding
are, did
and the

fathers

of civilisation who taught us what science art as

is

and what morals

nor

not

know the term

it is in is

use since about

180 years,

the

term,

discipline,

aesthetics which

of

equally

recent origin.

This is

not to

366

Interpretation
rather to

deny, but

assert, that there

and

are close

relations

between

science

and

morals on the one

hand,

those relations are

poetry bound to be misunderstood, to the detriment

poetry, if science and morals are

and

the other imitative arts on the other; but

of

both

science

and morals as well as of pillars of

civilisation.16

not considered the

The definition
which

which

I suggested, has

another

implication,

or

advantage,
nihilism as

explicit.17

must make

1 tentatively defined,

at the

beginning,

the

desire to

destroy

the present civilisation,

modern civilisation.

By

my

second

definition I intended to
modern civilisation as

make clear that one cannot call the most radical critic of

such, a

nihilist.

Civilisation is the
not

conscious culture of reason.

or

This

means that civilisation

is

identical

with

human life

human

existence.

There were,

and there

are,

many human beings who do not partake of civilisation. Civilisation has a natu ral basis which it finds, which it does not create, on which it is dependent, and
on which

it has only
poetic

very limited influence. Conquest

of

nature, if not taken

as a

highly

overstatement,

is
in

a nonsensical expression.

The

natural

basis

of civilisation shows as
well

itself for instance in the fact that

need

all civilised communities

which

as uncivilised ones are

of armed

force

they

must use

against their enemies

from
not

without and against

the criminals within.

8. I presume, it is

necessary to
e.g.,

prove that nihilism

in the

sense

defined is
more

dominant in Germany,
than any other country.

and that nihilism characterizes at present

Germany

Japan,

cannot

be

as nihilistic as

Japan has been

nihilism

much

less

civilised

in the

sense

Germany, because defined than was Germany. If

is the

rejection of

the principles of civilisation as such, and if civilisa

tion is based on recognition of the fact that the subject of civilisation is man as man, every interpretation of science and morals in terms of races, or of nations,
or of

cultures, is strictly speaking

or

nihilistic.

Whoever

accepts

the

idea

of a

Nordic

German

or

Faustic science, e.g.,

rejects eo

ipso the idea

of science.

Different

one of them can alist

may have produced different types of "science"; but only be true, can be The nihilist implication of the nation interpretation of science in particular can be described somewhat differ
science.**

"cultures"

ently in the following terms. Civilisation is inseparable from learning, from the desire to learn from anyone who can teach us something worthwhile. The na
tionalist

philosophy implies that we cannot really learn anything worthwhile from people who do not belong to our nation or our culture. The few Greeks whom we usually have in mind when we speak of the
of science or

interpretation

Greeks,

were

distinguished from the

even

willingness

to learn

Greek barbarian
are solved would

as well

by,

or on the

barbarians, so to speak exclusively by their barbarians; whereas the barbarian, the as the Greek barbarian, believes that all his questions basis of, his ancestral tradition. Naturally, a man who
from
non-

limit himself to asserting that

one nation

may have

a greater aptitude to
not

understanding

phenomena of a certain type than other

nations, would

be

German Nihilism
nihilist: not

367

the accidental fate

of science or

morals, but its

essential

intention is

decisive for the definition 9. The German

begin
nihilists

of civilisation and therewith of nihilism.

in general,

and the

German
question

nihilists

in

particular reject of what

the

principles of civilisation as such.

nihilists reject

The

arises, in favor

do the
to

those principles? I shall

of

try

to answer that

question

with on

the

basis
has

Mr. Rauschning's

book."

This

will give me an oppor

tunity
Mr.

to elucidate somewhat more the

foregoing

definition

of nihilism.

Rauschning

called

the foreign and domestic policy of the Nazis "the

nihilism."

revolution of

This

means:

the

making,"

but "the

wasteful and

it is not, as it claims to be, "a new order in destructive exploitation of irreplaceable re

of

sources, material, mental, and moral, accumulated through generations

labor"

fruitful
not

(xi). This

would mean

that N.S.

is

nihilistic

in its effect, but it does

necessarily

mean that

it is

nihilistic

in its intention. What conceivably

so
be*

Rauschning
said of the

says

in this

passage quoted about the

revolution as well.

Nazis,

might

Communist If in its
nihil object

And yet,

one cannot call communism a nihilist movement.

the communist revolution is nihilist,

it is

in its consequences, but

not

intention. This

reminds me of another remark of

Rauschning's: he identifies
standards"

ism

with

the "destruction of all traditional spiritual

use of the term
traditional*

(xn). What I

to, is the

in the definition

of nihilism.

It is

evident

that not all traditional spiritual standards are,

even rejection: we seek what

by

their nature,

beyond

criticism and

is good, and not what we have inherited, to quote Aristotle. In other words, I believe it is dangerous, if the opponents of National Socialism withdraw to a mere conservatism which defines its ultimate goal by a
specific
tradition*

The temptation to fall back from

and

an unimpressive present on

an

impressive
ought not,

past

every

past

is

as such

impressive

is very

great

indeed.

We

however,
in

cede to that

temptation, if for

no other

reason, at least
appear as

for
as

this that the Western tradition

one

is

not so

homogeneous To

as

it may

long

is

engaged

polemics or

in

apologetics.

mention one example out of reconcile

many: the great tradition of which

with

Voltaire is

representative, is hard to
even

the tradition of which Bellarmine

is

representative,

if both traditions

should

be equally hostile to National

Socialism.20

Besides, I

wish, Mr.

Rauschning

had

not spoken of spiritual

standards; this savours of the

view

that materialism is

essentially nihilistic; I believe that materialism is an error, but I have only to recall the names of Democritus and Hobbes in order to realize that materialism is
not

essentially

nihilistic.

Not to
of

mention

the

fact

that a certain anti-materialism or

idealism is lack

at the

bottom

German

nihilism.

Rauschning
of

operates on somewhat safer ground when

he

stresses the

Nazis'

any

settled aims.

He

understands

then

by

German

nihilism

the "permanent

destruction"

revolution of sheer
sake"

for the

sake of

destruction,
of the

"revolution for its

says that

own

(248). He

"aimlessness"

stresses

the

Nazis; he

they
calls

have
their

no program except
revolution

action; that

they

replace

doctrine

by

tactics

(75); he

"a

doctrine"

revolution without a

(55); he

speaks of the

"total

368

Interpretation

rejection"

by

the

Nazis "of any

doctrine"

sort of says:

(56). This

appears

to be an

exaggeration. not: a

For

elsewhere

Rauschning
Yet it has
a

doctrine
while

philosophy."

or philosophy.

"One thing National Socialism is (23). Or: "the fight against only in
material con
(22).21
doctrine"

Judaism,
Their
even

it is beyond

question a central element not

siderations, but in those

anti-Jewish were

of cultural

policy, is

part of the

party

if it

policy does seem to be taken seriously by the Nazis. But true, that no single point of the original party program or party

doctrine had
a

a more than provisional and tactical meaning, we still should a

be

at

loss to

understand

party, a government, a State

without

not

program or

doctrine

but

any

aims.

For it

seems

merely without a hard to conceive how

any human
no

being

can act without

having
an aim.

an aim.

program, but he doubtless had

John Dillinger probably had In other words: Rauschning has not

aims, then he defines a non
without a program or

considered

carefully

enough

the difference between program and aim. If he

defines

nihilism as a political movement without nihilism

entity; if he defines

as

a political

movement

doctrine,
As
aims:

then

he

would

have to

call all opportunists nihilists, which would

be

too uncharitable to be
a matter of

true.22

fact, Rauschning does

maintains aim

not always

"a

permanent revolution of sheer of

destruction

tatorship
to

brute force

itself in

power"

states the aim of the

Nazis: that

is their power;

destroy,

but in

order

to maintain themselves in
a certain

power.23

deny that the Nazis have by means of which a dic (xif). Here, Rauschning they do not destroy in order Now, to keep them
make their

selves

in power, they depend, to

extent, on their ability to

subjects, the
mans.

Germans, happy,
as matters

on their

This means,

ability to satisfy the needs of the Ger stand, that, in order to maintain themselves in
policy
of

power,

they

must embark upon a

aggression,

policy directed toward

world-dominion.

Rauschning
"the German
Their
"goal"

corrects

his

remark about the aimlessness of the

Nazis

by

indefinite to-day only because they are is "the world-wide totalitarian (58). They have
aims are
empire"

infinite"

saying (275).

aims, their
principal
scribed

aims

form

even

hierarchy leading

aim, the redistribution of the

world"

not only up to a principal aim: "the (229). German nihilism, as de

by Rauschning,
who are

is then

the aspiration to world-dominion exercised

by

the

Germans

dominated in their turn

uses

by

becomes nihilistic, because it everything being. However low

stroys

any

means

German elite; that aspiration to achieve its end and thus de

a

which makes

life

worth

an opinion we

for any decent or intelligent may have of the Nazis, I am inclined to

living

believe that they desire German world-dominion not merely as a means for themselves in but that so to power, keeping they derive, speak, a disinterested pleasure from the prospect of that glamorous goal "Germany ruling the I should even go one step further and say that the Nazis probably derive a disinterested pleasure from the aspect of those human qualities which enable
nations to conquer.

world.

am certain

that the

Nazis

consider

any

pilot of a

bomber

or

German Nihilism
any
submarine commander
salesman or

369

absolutely

superior

in human

dignity

to any travel

ing

to any

physician or

to the representative of any other relatively

nihilist much more stated:

peaceful occupation. more educated than who

For,

German

intelligent

and much

Hitler himself has

much

"What kind be

of minds are

those

do

not even

know this

that no mind can

more profound and more

knowing

than that of any soldier who

fell

anywhere at the

Somme

or

in Flan das fiir

ders? This is the

standard of which we are

in

need."

("Was

aber sind

Geister, die
kann
als

noch nicht einmal

wissen, dass kein Geist tiefer

und wissender sein

der jedes beliebigen Soldaten, der irgendwo an der Somme oder in Flandem fiel? Dies ist der Massstab, dessen wir bedurftig Junger, Der
sind."

Arbeiter, 20
preference

1.)24

The

admiration

of the

warrior as

given

to the warrior as warrior,

a type, the unconditional is however not only genuine in

question:

German
what

nihilism:

it is

even

its distinctive feature. Our it

in favor

of

does German

nihilism reject

the principles of civilisation as such must

rejects

therefore be answered
of

by

the statement: that

those principles
must

in favor
mind

the military virtues. This is what Mr.

Rauschning
war

have had in

when

speaking of "heroic nihilism"(21). War is a destructive business. And if

and not

is

considered

more noble

than

peace, if war,
purposes

peace, is

considered the

aim, the aim

is for

all practical

nothing
of

other

than destruction. There is reason for

and

believing

that the

business

destroying,

killing,

terested pleasure to the Nazis as

torturing is a source of an almost disin that such, they derive a genuine pleasure from
and

the aspect of the strong and ruthless who subjugate, exploit, and torture the
weak and
helpless.25

10. German

nihilism

rejects

then the principles of civilisation as such in

of

favor

of war and

conquest, in favor
militarism.

the warlike

virtues.

German

nihilism

is

therefore akin to German

militarism

This

compels us to raise the question what as the view expressed a

is. Militarism

can

be identified
peace

by

the older

Moltke in these terms: "Eternal

one."26

is
a

To believe that

eternal peace

is

dream, and not even a beautiful dream, is not militarism, but perhaps

plain commonsense;

it is

at

any

rate not

But to believe that

eternal

peace

is

not

bound up with a particular moral taste. a beautiful dream, is tantamount to

believing

is something desirable in itself; and to believe that war is view something desirable in itself, betrays a cruel, inhuman disposition. The that war is good in itself, implies the rejection of the distinction between just
that war

and unjust wars,

between

wars of

defence

and wars of aggression.

It is

ulti

nations. mately irreconcilable with the very idea of a law of 11. German nihilism is akin to German militarism, but it is with

not

identical*

it. Militarism

always made at

least the

attempt*

to

reconcile

the ideal

of

war with

Kultur;

nihilism

however*

is based

on

the

assumption

that Kultur

is

finished. Militarism

always

recognized

that the virtues of peace are of equal

dignity,
rules of

or almost equal

dignity,
be

with the virtues of war.

When

denying

that the

decency

cannot

applied

to foreign policy, it never denied the validity

370

Interpretation

rules as regards home policy or private life. It never asserted that is essentially national; it merely asserted that the Germans happen to be the teachers of the lesser breeds. German nihilism on the other hand asserts that of those science

the military virtues, and

pain, the virtue of the red

pain

in Blatter

und

ability to bear any physical is the virtue left (see Jiinger's essay on Indian, only Steine). The only virtue left: the implication is that we live
particular courage as the

in

decline, of the decline of the West, in an age of civilisation as distinguished from, and opposed to culture; or in an age of mechanic society as distinguished from, and opposed to, organic community. In that condition of debasement, only the most elementary virtue, the first virtue, that virtue with which man and human society stands and falls, is capable to grow. Or, to ex
an age of press the same view somewhat

in

differently: in

an

age of utter

corruption, the

only remedy
and to return
potential*

possible

is to

destroy

the edifice of corruption

"das

System"

to the

uncorrupted and

incorruptible origin, to the

condition of

and not

actual,

culture or civilisation: the characteristic virtue of that culture or

stage of age and

merely

potential*

civilisation,

of the state

of nature, is

cour

nothing

else.

German

nihilism

is

then a radicalized

form

of

German

militarism, and that

tion the romantic

radicalization about

is due to the fact that

the whole modem

during

the last genera

and therefore

judgment

development,

in
it

particular about ever was even

the present, has become much more generally accepted than

Germany.*11

in 19th century
which

By

romantic

judgment, I

under

stand a order of

judgment

is

guided

human things

existed

by during some

the opinion that an absolutely superior

period of the recorded past. militarism and

12. However
nihilism

great the

difference between German

German

may be: the kinship of the two aspirations is obvious. German militar ism is the father of German nihilism. A thorough understanding of German nihilism would therefore require a thorough understanding of German militar

ism.

Why has Germany

explain

such a particular aptitude

for

militarism?

few,

ex

tremely sketchy
To

remarks must

here

suffice.
not

German militarism, it is

sufficient

to refer to the

fact that

German
Western

civilisation

nations, that

is considerably younger than the civilisation of the Western Germany is therefore perceivably nearer to barbarism than are the
For the
civilisation of the

countries.

Slavonic
do

nations

is

still younger than

that of the
as
are*

Germans,

and the

Slavonic

nations

not appear

to be as militaristic

the

Germans. To discover the

prehistory*

wiser

to

disregard the German

of

German militarism, it might be German civilisation, and to look at the

root of

history
and

of

civilisation

itself.

Germany

reached the

hey-day

of

her letters

her thought

during
ideal,

the period

from 1760
to that

to

1830; i.e.
almost

after

the elaboration of
and while a
of modern

the ideal of
revision of

modern civilisation

had been finished

completely,

that

or a reaction and

ideal,

took place. The

not of

ideal

civilisation

is

of

English

French origin; it is
course,
the
a

German

origin.

What the
am not

meaning

of

that

ideal is, is,

one can

of

highly

controversial question.
of the

If I

greatly mistaken,

define

tendency

intellectual development

German Nihilism
which as

371

it

were exploded

in the French Revolution, in the

moral

following

terms: to

lower the

moral

standards, the

claims, which previously had been made

care than those earlier teachers

by

all responsible

teachers, but to take better

The way in
which

had

done, for
human

the putting into practice, into political and legal practice, of the rules of this was most effectually achieved, was the

conduct. of

identification

morality lightened self-interest, or the

tion of the conflict

with an attitude of reduction of common

most

claiming

one's rights, or with en

or

honesty

to the best policy;

the solu
means of

between

interest

and private

interest

by

industry
and no

and trade. no

(The two

famous
where

philosophers:

Descartes, his

generosite,

justice,

duties; Locke:
of

there is no property, there is no

justice.)
of a of

Against that debasement

morality,

and against the concomitant

decline

truly

philosophic was

spirit, the thought of

Germany

stood

up, to the

lasting

honour

Germany. It century

which

however precisely this reaction to the spirit of the 17th and 18th laid the foundation for German militarism as far as it is an intellec

tual phenomenon.
of enlightened sisted on the

Opposing

self-interest

the identification of the morally good with the object however enlightened, the German philosophers in
good and

difference*
the*

honestum insisted

and

utile;

between the morally they insisted on

self-interest, between the

and
self-denial;*

self-sacrifice*

they

on

it

so

much, that

they

were apt to

forget the

natural aim of man which

is happiness; happiness
came almost
noble and

and

bad

names

utility as well as commonsense (Verstdndigkeit) be in German philosophy. Now, the difference between the

the useful, between

duty

and self-interest

is

most visible

in the

case of

one

virtue, courage, military

virtue:

the consummation of the actions of every

pays

other virtue
munificent

is,

or

may be, rewarded; it actually

one's

to be

just, temperate,
it is
the

urbane,

etc.; the consummation of the actions country, is

of

courage, i.e. death on the

field

of

honour, death for

never rewarded:

flower

of

self-

sacrifice.28

menaced

Courage is the only unambiguously unutilitarian virtue. In defending morality, i.e. non-mercenary morality, the German philosophers were

tempted to overstress the

dignity

of

military virtue,

and

in very important cases,

in

the cases of
and

Fichte, Hegel,
for

and

Nietzsche, they

succumbed to that temptation.

In this

in

various other

ways, German philosophy created a peculiarly Ger

commonsense and

man tradition of contempt

the aims of human

life,

as

they

are visualized

However

by deep

commonsense.

the difference between German philosophy and the philoso

phy of the Western countries may be: German philosophy ultimately conceived of itself as a synthesis of the pre-modem ideal and the ideal of the modem
period. overrun

That

synthesis

did

not work:

in the 2nd half in

of

the 19th century,

it

was

by

Western positivism, the

natural child of

the enlightenment.

Germany

had been
meprise

educated

by

her

philosophers of

contempt of

Western philosophy (Je

that the synthesis

Locke, is

saying

Schelling's);

she now observed

effected not

by

her philosophers,
she saw no
of

of the pre-modem out except

ideal

and the modem

ideal did

work;
the

way

to purify German thought completely

pre-

from

influence

the ideas of modem civilisation, and to return to the

372

Interpretation
ideal. National Socialism is the
most

modem

famous, because

the most vulgar,

was a

example of such a return to a pre-modem

return

ideal. On its highest level, it

real pre-modem

to what may be called the pre-literary stage of philosophy,

pre-socratic

philosophy.

On

all

levels,
as

the pre-modem ideal was not a

interpreted*

ideal,

but

a pre-modem

ideal

by

the German
of the

idealists, i.e. interpreted

17th
and

with a polemic

intention

against the

philosophy

18th century,

and therefore

distorted.29

Of

all

German philosophers, influence

on post-war

and

indeed

of all philosophers, none exercised none was more responsible

relation of

a greater

Germany,
was

for the

emergence of

German nihilism, than

Nazi*

Nietzsche. The
to the

Nietzsche

to the German

revolution

is

comparable

relation of

Rousseau to the
of the

French

revolution.

That is to
one

say:

by interpreting
to

Nietzsche in the light

one

German revolution,
unjust.

is very

unjust

Nietzsche, but
is

is

not

absolutely

It may

not

be

amiss to

quote one or the other passage

from Beyond
race,

Good

and

Evil,

which are related

to our subject: "That

attack on

no philosophic

these Englishmen. Bacon represents an

the philosophic spirit as such.

Hobbes, Hume
cept of and stood out.

and

Locke

are a more

degradation
than

and

debasement

of the

very

con

"philosopher"

for

a century.

Against Hume, Kant

was
entitled*

stood

up

It

was

Locke,

of whom

Schelling
were

to say Je meprise

Locke. In the fight

against

English
and

mechanist

interpretation

of nature

[Newton], ideas,

Hegel

and

Schopenhauer

Goethe

unanimou

"That

what one calls

the modem
that

ideas, or ideal, in a word,

it is
of

the ideas of the 18th century, or even the French

against which

the German spirit stood up with profound

can

disgust

English origin, there

and

be

no

doubt

about that.

The French
their

have merely been the imitators 252

actors

of those

ideas, besides
in asserting

best
(aph.
the*

soldiers, and also, unfortunately, their first and most complete

victims."

f.) I believe

that Nietzsche

German tradition is very critical modem civilisation, and those ideals are of English origin. He forgets however to add that the English almost
always

is substantially of the ideals of

correct

that

had the very

un-German prudence and moderation not to throw out the

baby

with the

bath, i.e.
which

the prudence to conceive of the modem

ideals

as a

reasonable adaptation of

the old and eternal ideal of

decency,

of rule of

law,

and of that

liberty

is

not

license,

to changed circumstances. This

taking

through, this crossing the bridge when one comes to it, may have done some harm to the radicalism of English thought; but it proved to be a blessing to English life; the English never indulged in those
radical

things easy, this muddling

breaks

with

traditions which played such a role on the continent. What

with

ever

may be wrong

the

peculiarly

modem

ideal:

the very

Englishmen tradition,

who

originated

it,

were at

the same time versed

store a

in the

classical

and

the

English
poison.

always

kept in

substantial amount of the

necessary

counter-

While the English

originated the modem

was no where

ideal

the pre-modem

ideal,

the classical ideal of

and
Cambridge.30

humanity,

better

preserved than

in Oxford

German Nihilism
[Editors'

373

note:
of this

following

this, the
A
"

sentence

"Whatever may be the

who

outcome an

war, it are the

English,

and not the

Germans,
above

deserve to have

empire"

has been

crossed out.

"

sign

it

refers

to a handwritten
as a re

paragraph at

the bottom of the page,

indicating

it

should

be inserted

placement at this point

in the text.]
war

The

present

Anglo-German

is then

of symbolic significance. are

In defend
the

ing

modem civilisation against

German nihilism, the English No

one can tell what will

defending

eternal principles of civilisation.

be the

outcome of

this war. But this much

is

clear

beyond any doubt:

which

leader in the

crucial

moment, in

by choosing Hitler for their the question of who is to exercise mili

Germans
ceased to

tary

rule

became the
more

order of the

day,

the

claim

to be

than a provincial nation;

it is the English,
imperial
nation:

have any rightful and not the Ger

[Editors'

mans, who deserve to

be,

and to remain, an

note: at

this point the handwritten the

insertion ends,

and the typescript

continues] for only

deserve*

English,

and not the

Germans, have
regere

understood that
one

in

order to

to
a

exercise

imperial rule,

imperio populos,

must

have learned for

very long jectis et debellare

time to spare the vanquished and to crush the arrogant: parcere

superbos.*'

sub-

NOTES

1. The typescript indicates the

"morbid"

reads

"and to describe,
reversed.

on the

basis

of that

definition":
The

handwritten
before the

sign

order should

be

2. The typescript

reads

"I

could not call that

desire

morbid,"

"a"

words

word

"desire"

and the word

following

it have been

added

by

hand.

see Henri Bergson, Les deux 3. For the distinction between "closed society and open sources de la morale et de la religion, chaps. 1 and 4. The Two Sources of Morality and Religion

society,"

(Notre Dame, IN: University 4. Preceding "Moral

Hollywood."

of

Notre Dame Press, 1977).

a sentence

life"

is

beginning

with a

few illegible handwritten

words and

continuing in typewriting with "the typical representation of the open society is believed to be Both the handwritten words and the typewritten sentence have been crossed out.

The

"

words after words

the

flag

and the oath to the

flag

"

have been inserted hand.

added

by

hand.

Comma 5. The

"existence"

inserted

by

hand.

", it is

asserted,"

have been inserted

the word

by

"recognized,"

"faced"

Above the
alternative.

word

has been

by hand,

possibly
to"

as

an

spade."

The inserted

typescript reads "generations who called a spade a

The

words

"used

have been

"e.g."

by hand, while the last two added by hand to replace

end of the

letters
"i.e.,"

"called"

of which

have been

crossed out.

has been calling

crossed out.
Strafmass"

At the
added

sentence, the

words

"or

by

capital punishment

have been

by

hand.
state"

6. After "insofar

as

the

sovereign

the typescript includes "[.

crossed out.

.],

the

perfect

society

which

does

not

have

superior, [.
"is,"

which

has been

"offers'

replaces

which

has been
added

crossed out.

example,"

"the best
ple,"

modern

by hand,

replaces

"the only important contemporary

the sentence

exam

which

has been

crossed out.
morality"

In the typescript, "endangered

is followed

by

"If there

should

be

a cynic

374
in
our

Interpretation
love."

midst, he probably would call that love of morality an unhappy or

and crossed out reads

unrequited

which

has been bracketed The typescript

"the"

by

hand.
"I"

"But the historians [.

"But"

has been
inserted

crossed

out, while the

in

has been

capitalized

by
see

hand.
"passion,"
pigs"

Commas
Rand

"conviction,"

after

and

"city

of

by

hand.

For Glaukon's protest,

McNally

and

Republic, 372c-d; Co., 1964), pp. 93-96.

was the same

see also

Leo Strauss, The

City and

Man (Chicago:

turned,"

In the typescript, "It has been

crossed out. after

is inserted hand

preceded

by

"The

same passion

which

Comma bolshevism The

"less intelligent
have been

form"

by

hand.
Grossstadt"

Quotation

marks

added

by

around

"the

subhuman

and

"cultural

(Kulturbolschevismus)."

all"

passage

"as is

shown
at

by

the examples of Plato and

Rousseau, if

examples are needed at

has been

added

by

hand

the bottom of the typescript, with a sign

indicating

it

should

be inserted

at this point.
"was"

added

by

hand to

"is,"

replace

which

has been

crossed out.
sound,"

"a

demand"

sound

was added
around

by

hand to

Parentheses

"One

facts"
.
. .

"basically have been added by hand.

replace crossed out and

which

has been

crossed out.

In the typescript, Page 5

"sound"

has been

replaced,

by hand, by by

"not entirely

un

sound."

of the typescript carries the title

"German

Nihilism,"

followed

two paragraphs which

largely bly

repeat

the first two paragraphs above. Both the title and the two paragraphs have been
this

crossed out.

Presumably,
first four
"4,"

is

where a

first draft

of

the typescript began. Professor Strauss proba

added the

pages

later

on: after the two

deleted paragraphs, the text

continues with a

paragraph marked

lecture below:

at

this

point.

suggesting that he intended to skip the original beginning and continue the With a view to completeness, the editors have included the two paragraphs

German Nihilism

phenomenon?

1. (crossed out) What is nihilism? And how far can nihilism be said to be a specifically German not indeed to answer these questions, but to elaborate them a little. For I shall try

the phenomenon with which I have to

deal, is

much too complex

to to

permit of an adequate scratch

descrip
thank

tion within the short time at my disposal. I cannot

advance

do

more than

the surface.

in

the

discussion

speakers who will, no

doubt, help

me and the passive part of the audience

toward greater

clarity about a phenomenon which is so important to all of us. 2. (crossed out) When we hear at the present time the expression "German naturally think at once of National Socialism. It must however be understood from the

nihilism

most of us outset that

its lowest, most provincial, most unintel National Socialism is only one form of German nihilism ligent and most dishonourable form. It is probably its very lowness which accounts for its great, if appalling, successes. These successes may be followed by failures and ultimately by complete defeat. Yet the defeat For that
crossed nihilism of

National Socialism

will not

necessarily

mean the end of

German

nihilism.
("First"

has deeper

roots than the preachings of

Hitter, Germany's defeat in

the

out) World War

and all that.

7.

"4."

inserted

"emotions"

by hand. added by hand

hand.

to replace the word

"feelings,"

which

has been

crossed out.

Under

lining

added

by

8. The typescript has

Above
"interesting,"

"backward,"

with

the

latter

part crossed out.

the word

"alluring"

has been

added

by hand,
which which

possibly

as an alternative.

"spiritual"

"the withering away of the has been inserted has been added by hand to replace
"material"

State,"

by

hand. has been has been

crossed out. crossed out.

"material,"

has been

added

by

hand to

"spiritual,"

replace

"Wir
sind.

aber stehen mitten und

Sonne, Enkel

im Experiment; wir treiben Dinge, die durch keine Erfahrung begriindet Urenkel von Gottlosen, denen selbst der Zweifel verdachtig geworden ist,

marschieren wir

rohen."

durch Landschaften, die das Leben mit hoheren und tieferen Temperaturen bedErnst Jiinger, Der Arbeiter; Herrschaft und Gestalt (Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlaganstalt,

German Nihilism

375

1932), pp. 193-94; Werke: Essays II (Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 1963), Bd. 6, p. 214). ["We, however, stand in the middle of the experiment; we are attempting things that have no foundation in experience. Sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of godless men, to whom even doubt has become
suspect, we
march

through landscapes that threaten

life

with

higher

and

lower

temperatures"

(our

translation).]
Above
"the" "latest,"
"last"

the word
language"

has been
added

added

by hand,
which

possibly

as an alternative.

Comma The

after

"clear

by

hand.
"its"

before

"potentialities"

added to replace

has been

crossed out.

"-anarchist-pacifist"

words

have been inserted

by

hand.

9. The underlining of the first "if has been crossed-out. Colon after "in other inserted by hand.
words" admitted"

"they
After "all
argument,

inserted

by

hand.

argument"

rational all

the typescript continues

"[.

] they knew
has been

of,

i.e.

all

historical It recurs,
crossed

i.e.

statements, based on analysis of the previous development and of the present

situation, about the probable future

with some modifications,
"was,"

[.

This

part of the sentence

crossed out.

in

the next sentence.

argument" "were,"

after out.

"all

rational

added

by hand,

replaces

which

has been

The The
of the

words

"For that

modern,"

together with the previous sentence,

have been inserted in the

hand
the bottom

typescript

by

hand. reading

sentence

"astrology [.

youth"

.]

academic

has been inserted

point

by

at

page,

with a sign sentence should added

indicating

it

should

be inserted
hand
at

at

this

in the text.
"

This last

has been inserted

added
"3."

by

the bottom of the page, with

+ "-sign

indicating
10.
"as"

it

be

to the previous sentence.

"5"

"un-"

by hand to replace after added by hand to inserted by hand to replace

"able"

"constitutional."

"who,"

which

has been
fact"

crossed out. added

The
section

section

reading "of the

results of the
vote"

political

[.

.]

the

has been
"suffrage

by

hand

to replace the

was,"

"on the

elections, of what
added

which
replace

has been

crossed out. which

children,

"children's
crossed out.

has been

by

hand to
"in

of

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"ever"

all"

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by

hand to
after

some,"

replace

which

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by

hand

"senility"

never,"

to replace "was

which

has been

crossed out.

"however

short"

inserted

by
it

hand.
.]

The

long

passage,

"I have [.

Social

Research,"

has been

added

by

hand

at the

bottom

of

the

page, with a sign

"asserted"

added
"more"

indicating by hand

should

be inserted

"Hindenburg."

after
which

"showed,"

to replace editors, as the word

of

has been

crossed out.

is

a surmise of the

is difficult to

read.

Carl Mayer, "On the Intellectual Origin

225-47.
"Schmitt"

National

Socialism,"

Social Research 9 line.

(May

1942):

1 1. Illegible

word

following
"Juenger,"

added

by

hand

above the
uses

The typescript have

changed the
"seemed"

reads

but

as

Professor Strauss

"Junger"

further on, the

editors

spelling

throughout.
of which the

"seems,"

replaces

last letter has been

have been

crossed out.

The
"be,"

words

"consist

of pueris

decantata,

of

added and underlined

by hand,

to replace

which

has been

crossed out.
"principles" "s"

The The
to

typescript reads
sentence

before "of

progress": the

has been

crossed out. added

reading "For technical

"For,"

perfection

[.

.].

Or, if

wish,"

you

has been

by

hand

replace

the

single word

which

has been
only

crossed out.
dusk."

"The

owl of

Minerva

spreads

its is

wings

with the p.

falling

of the

(Hegel, Philosophy of

Right [Oxford: Oxford "after the defeat in

"Their Finest
Hour"

University Press, 1975],

Flanders"

13.)
insertion.
of Commons and
pp.

a typewritten

(a

speech

delivered first by Winston S. Churchill to the House

and

then broadcast, June 18, 1940), in Into Battle (London: Cassell

Company, 1943),

225-34.

376

Interpretation

risse einer

Professor Strauss is referring to Oswald Spengler. See Der Untergang des Abendlandes: UmMorphologie der Weltgeschichte (Miinchen: Oskar Beck, 1923). Bd. 1, p. 49 |Einleitung,

13]; The Decline of the West (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939), p. 36 [Introduction, sec. 13]. At Cannae, located in Apulia, the Romans suffered a crushing defeat in the Second Punic War against
Hannibal (216 B.C.).
12.
"6."

inserted
added

"History"

by hand. by hand to

replace

"the

mind,"

world replace

which
"which,"

has been

crossed out. crossed out.

"who"

"midwife"

after

added
"History"

by

hand to

which

has been

The The
sign
"it,"

"H"

in

has been

capitalized

by

hand.

sentence

"For if
should

has been
at

added

by

hand

at the

bottom

"

of the added

page, with a

"

indicating
which

it

be inserted

this point in the text, with

"reason"

by hand,

to

replace

has been

crossed out.
man,"

"the very highest power of Goethe, Faust I, 1851-55.

13.
"7."

has been inserted

"5."

by

hand.

inserted

by
"a"

hand to

replace
"an"

The
"

In the typescript, has been words "for I know [.

.

changed to

before

"orderly."

forgiven"

.]

have been

added

by

hand

at

the bottom of the page, with

"

sign

indicating
for

it

should

be inserted

at this point

in the text. Parentheses have been inserted

by

the editors

reasons of clarity.

Caesar, The Gallic Wars, I, 30-54. Livy, The History of Rome, XXV, xxxi, 5-11.
Commas preceding and following the words "and 15. The typescript reads "[man]'s place in the "the
man." enjoy"

14. See

have been

added

by

hand. in favor
of

universe,"

which

has been

crossed out

universe and
time"

"from time to Semi-colon In

the

is

a typewritten
or that

insertion. inserted

after

"this

man"

by
"to

hand.

"inability"

typescript,

is followed

by

bear,

and,"

which

has been

crossed out.

"or

other"

is

a typewritten

insertion. is followed
"assert" "disinterested,"

16. In the typescript,

out.

"with"

by

the word

which

has been

crossed

Commas
18. The
"or"
"8."

"discipline"

after
after

and
"advantage"

inserted

by

hand.

17. Comma

inserted

by

hand.
has been

inserted

by

hand to

"6."

replace
Germany"
.

sentence

reading "Japan

added

by

hand

at the

bottom

of the

page,

with a sign

indicating where it should added by hand to replace

reading "Different

be inserted in the text.

which

"and,"

has been

crossed out,

before both "of

nation

and

cultures."

"of

The 19.

science"

sentence

cultures

has been

added

by

hand

at the

bottom

of

the page, with a sign

"9."

inserted

indicating by hand to

where

it

should
"7."

be inserted in the text. West (New York: Longmans,

replace

Hermann Rauschning, The Revolution of Nihilism: Green and Co., 1939). 20. "and
"
rejection"

Warning

to the

even

has been inserted

by
"

hand.

Aristotle, Politics, II,

and

vii, 1269a.
as such
added

every

past

is

impressive

has been inserted

"Bossuet,"

by

hand.
has been
crossed out.

"Bellarmine"

has been

by

hand to

replace

which

21. Comma

"Judaism"

after reads

added

by

the editors

22. The typescript

reversed.

"had

probably": a

in conformity with the text of Rauschning. handwritten sign indicates that the order should be

The typescript
reversed.

reads

"had doubtless":

handwritten

sign

indicates

that the order should be

John Dillinger "a

(1902-34)

was a

famous American bank

has been
added

robber

in the twenties

and

thirties.
of,"

without"

political movement
crossed out.

by

hand to

replace the words

"lack

which

have been

German Nihilism
"non-entity"

377

has been

added

by

hand to

"chimaera,"

replace added

which

has been
"lack

crossed out. which

"a

without"

political movement

has been

by

hand to

of,"

replace

has been

crossed out.

"would

have"

has been

added

by

hand to

"had,"

replace

which

has been

crossed out.

23.

":"

has been

"aims"

added after

by

the editors

for

reasons of clarity.

Comma inserted

by

hand

"destroy."

after

24.

"form"

has been

added

by

typewriter to replace
"salesman"

"have,"

which

has been

crossed out.

The typescript
which

continues after
crossed out.

with "with the possible exception of their

foreign

minister,"

has been
"For"

Comma
"even"
"Das"

after

inserted

by

hand.

is

a typewritten of
p.

insertion.

instead

"Dies"

in the German text (see Ernst Jiinger, Der Arbeiter, 1932,

after

p.

201;

Werke, Bd. 6, 1963,

corrected

221).
"destruction,"

25. The typescript has

"the business

of with the

latter

part crossed out and

by

hand.
ewige

26. "Der

Friede ist

ein

Traum,

und nicht einmal ein

schoner,

und

der

Krieg

ein

Glied in
und En-

Gottes Weltordnung. In ihm

tsagung, Pflichttreue
und

entfalten

sich

die

edelsten

Tugenden des Menschen, Muth des Lebens. Ohne den

a

Opferwilligkeit

mit

Einsetzung
peace

Krieg

wiirde

die

Welt im Materialismus
and war

versumpfen."

("Permanent

is

dream,

and not even a

beautiful one,
self-

is

law

of

God's

order

in the world,

by

which the noblest virtues of

man, courage and

death, are developed. Without war the world would deteriorate into materialism.") Letter to Dr. J. K. Bluntschli, 11 December 1880, in FieldMarshal Count Helmuth von Moltke as a Correspondent, trans. Mary Herms (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1893), p. 272. German text: Helmuth von Moltke, Gesammelte Schriften und Denkwiirdigkeiten (Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn, 1892), Bd. 5, p. 194.
denial, loyality
and

self-sacrifice, even to the point of

27.

"made"

"recognized,"

replaces the word

Schmerz,"

which und

has been

crossed out.
pp.

"Uber den

in Blatter

Steine (Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlaganstalt, 1934),

pp.

154-213, in
particular p.
""

particular p.

213 (Werke: Essays I [Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 1960],

has been inserted
explain

151-98, in

197).
""

das System
after

by

hand. inserted

28. Comma
"militarism,"
"civilisation,"

"To

German

militarism"

by

hand.

in "To discover the

has been

"

root of

is

a typewritten

insertion, replacing

the word

which

crossed out.

"the

history

of

has been inserted

"best

by

hand.

Semi-colon In the

policy"

after

inserted

by

hand.
"The two
most

typescript

only the

parenthesis at the end of

famous

is

printed.

The

lapidary
remark. most

style of

the sentence,

however,

suggests that

Professor Strauss intended this to be

an aside

For this reason, the

there

famous,"

is

a sign

also

More's

"hedonistic"

have added the opening parenthesis. Above the words "The two referring to a handwritten note at the bottom of the page, reading "Cf. Utopia =t Plato's austere
editors
Republic."

entirely:

In the typescript, "honour of "But the way in which this

object of

Germany"

is followed

by

a sentence which

has been

crossed out

reaction was effected, was

too much determined

by

the polemic

attitude against the

enlightened"

"the

has been inserted

by

hand.

(Verstandigkeii)"

"as

well as commonsense margin of

has been inserted

by

hand.
there
example

philoso

In the

the typscript, next to the sentence

note at the

"Opposing
reading "An amusing

is

a sign

referring to

handwritten
vol.

bottom
p.

of the page,
1."

in Grote's

History

of

Greece,

8, Everyman,
"fine"

342,

n.

The

editors were unable to trace the reference to

Grote's History of Greece. the word Before

"flower,"

has been

crossed out.
"Western,"

29.

"modern"

"civilisation"

before
"return"

has been

added

by

typewriter to replace

which

has been

crossed out.
"real,"

Before

the word
"i.e."

has been

crossed out

in the typescript.

"interpreted"

after

has been inserted

by

typewriter.

378
The been

Interpretation
words

"and therefore

distorted"

have been

added

30. The
The

words

"It may [.

from"
.

.]

have been inserted

by hand. by hand

his,"

to replace "In

which

has
has

crossed out.
words

"which [.

subject"

.]

have been inserted

read,"

by hand,

to replace "we

which

been

crossed out.
"Newton"

Brackets
"in
a

around

have been

added

by

hand.
"therefore,"

word"

has been
added

added

by hand,
hand to

to replace

which

has been

crossed

out.

Commas have been

"stood
up"

by

the editors.

has been inserted

and

by

"arose,"

replace

which

has been

crossed out.

Nietzsche, Beyond Good

Above the
alternative.
"-"

Evil, 252-53.
the word
"profoundness"

"radicalism,"

word

has been

added

by hand,

possibly

as an

has been inserted

"the"

by hand,
before

to replace

a comma.

In the typescript, 31. Following

be
an

"classical"

is followed

by

"ideal

of,"

which

has been

crossed out.

"doubt:"

the sentence "it are the

crossed out.

English,

and not the

Germans,

who

deserve to

imperial

nation"

has been

"populos"

has been inserted "to

spare

by

hand. See Virgil, Aeneid, VI, 85 1

The

words

the vanquished and to crush the

arrogant"

have been
the

added

by

hand

beneath the text

Augustus is the

with a sign.

See Virgil, Aeneid, VI, 853. After

"superbos"

following

handwrit

ten words have been crossed out:

road

";

not

the way of

Ariovistus, but only

the way of Caesar and

empire."

to

Corrections to Leo Strauss, "German Nihilism":

Published in
pp.

Interpretation,

vol.

26

no. 3

(Spring 1999),

353-78.

The transcription
the typescript

of

Leo Strauss's handwritten insertions in

Nihilism"

and additions

to

"German

was checked against the original

by

Wiebke fol

Meier, Munich. The

lows:

text published

in Interpretation

should

be

corrected as

Page 355, line 2 from bottom: National

cialism

socialism should read

National So

Page 356, line 4:

[The
word

motive

led to

nihilism, should read motive

led

to nihilism.

led is

underlined

twice.]
militarism

Page 356, line 5: young atheist should read young atheists Page 356, line 23: German nihilism is related should read German

is

related

Page 356, line 5 from bottom: the break in the tradition

with the tradition

should read

the

break

Page 356, line 4 from bottom: from the

rejection of

rejection of modern civilisation

to the

the

principle of civilisation as such should read

from the

rejection of

the

principles of modern civilisation

to the rejection of the principles of civilisa

tion as such

Page 359, line 17: it

element

was not a sound

demand

should read

it has

not a sound

Page 360, line 3 from bottom: argument,

ment,

or more

precisely

should read argu

more precisely Page 360, line 2 from bottom: about the probable future the future [probable crossed out by Leo Strauss]

should read about

Page 360, line 1 from bottom:

should read of

of the past,

and above

all, of the

present.

the past and, above all, of the

emphasized

present. should read emphasized

Page 361, line 2:

that

before that

the

fact

Page 362, line 6: the Page 362, line 12:

attention

it

should read

the attention which it

author of

should read

Baumler [Alfred Baeumler,

Nietzsche,

der Philosoph

und

Politiker, Leipzig 1931]

Page 364, line 14: a servant or slave should read a servant and slave Page 364, line 15: distinction which should read distinction, which
Page 364, line 28:
which are more
which

easily

should read which are most

easily

Page 373, lines 10-11: in

the

question of who

is to

exercise

military

interpretation, Fall

2000, Vol. 28, No. 1

34
rule

Interpretation
became the
order of the

day

should read

in

which the question of who

is

to exercise planetary rule became the order of the day.

Page 373,
wrote:

note

4:

few illegible handwritten

words

should

read

Strauss

Cabaret des Westens, Ullstein

note page

Page 375,
correction

11: Illegible

word should read

Strauss

wrote:

Baumler [see

to

362,

line 12].