Nietzsche and the Nazis is a documentary-lecture by the philosopher Stephen R.C. Hicks. It is one of the most educational documentaries I have watched in a long time. The film is divided into 38 chapters that starts out introducing the role philosophy has to play in the course of history. Dr. Hicks then gives an overview of the explanations for the rise of the Nazi party, and explains why the common explanations given are unsatisfactory. He proposes his own answer, that it was a well thought out philosophical movement. Chapters 5-11 give an overview of the philosophy behind the Nazi party, and chapters 12-19 explain what happened once the Nazis took over. While that may sound like something everyone knows, there were a few details in there that I have never heard before, such as the details of how the Nazis manipulated the market and how Aryan Germans were urged to reproduce through propaganda. Chapters 20-25 introduce who Friedrich Nietzsche is and what his philosophy was like. It is by no means a comprehensive account of Nietzsche's philosophical views, as his views changed gradually over the course of his books, nor does it go into depth about the sources of Nietzsche's thought. However, it does give enough of a general overview to understand the nature of his thinking, and it is explained very well. Chapters 26-31 show how his philosophy was very different from that of the Nazi party. 32-37 explores the similarities between Nietzsche and the Nazis, and shows what parts of his ideology were used to justify Nazi policy. He concludes the documentary by comparing the basic principals of the Nazi party and similar social movements to those of modern liberal democracy. The format of the film largely consists of Dr. Hicks lecturing from various places in his office, which sounds boring but he is interesting to listen to, and not at all monotone or boring. There are various pictures used in the presentation, so it is not just a video of him talking. The "do it yourself" aesthetic of this documentary works in his favor, and does not seem cheap.
When I first started reading philosophy, Friedrich Nietzsche was the first one that I read. I had encountered him by happenstance while going through a teacher's class bookshelf in high school, and saw a book that had a compilation of several of his writings. A couple of years later, when I started reading philosophy I purchased Thus Spoke Zarathustra and several other books by him. I was reading Nietzsche through the lens of existentialism, and viewed him as a potent and inspirational writer who preached a mentality of carpe diem. Over time, as I read more by him and became more aware of the more brutal side of his philosophy, I distanced myself from him. As I have studied more philosophy, I have come to realize that he never really argued for things, and that his writings are only philosophy in a very loose sense. That is, his philosophy did not consist of logical argument. That being said, I have noticed that opinions about Nietzsche are usually either divided into those who view him as a Nazi (as a professor of mine once claimed, if Nietzsche had lived longer he would have been a card carrying member of the Nazi party), or those who view him as a forerunner of existentialism. Ever since Walter Kaufmann translated his works, the existentialist interpretation has become ever more common. Nevertheless, both sides fail to see the the relevance of his writings. In this documentary, Stephen Hicks looks at the aspects of his thought that were very different from the Nazis, as well as the points of similarity. Dr. Hicks does Nietzsche justice in the sense that he views Nietzsche's work and its role in history honestly without favor or disfavor.
Anyone interested in either philosophy or history ought to watch this film. There is also a book adaptation of this film of the same name, which at the time of this review I do not own. However, Dr. Hicks is also the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Focault, which will be reviewed at a later date. This film is usually pretty cheap on Amazon.com, and those who have the ability to stream from Netflix, it is available to stream as of 2/24/2012.
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