THE RELIGIOUS AND QUASI-RELIGIOUS GENEALOGY OF THE THEOLOGY OF NAZISM Cover Image

THE RELIGIOUS AND QUASI-RELIGIOUS GENEALOGY OF THE THEOLOGY OF NAZISM
THE RELIGIOUS AND QUASI-RELIGIOUS GENEALOGY OF THE THEOLOGY OF NAZISM

Author(s): Evgeniy Bubnov
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk i Fundacja Filozofia na Rzecz Dialogu
Keywords: Nazism; Hitler; racial theory; quasi-religion; political religion; political theology

Summary/Abstract: The article is dedicated to the understanding of the Nazi anthropology as an element of the quasi-religious concept. Adolf Hitler’s racial theory unequivocally rejected the human status of persons not belonging to the Caucasian race, labeling them as Untermensch (“under-man”). Such an attitude was due to several prerequisites. However, the core reason is manifested not in the rational sphere. In the twentieth century, concepts of quasi-religions and political religions became widespread due to the reign of two totalitarian ideologies in Eurasia—Nazism and Communism. Numerous scholars emphasized the fact that these ideologies performed religious functions thus occupying an intellectual space at the interface between the religious and the secular. Quasi-religion adherents may be equally fanatic as religious radicals. Questions about whether this similarity is mere coincidence or whether quasi-religions are derivatives from traditional religions and the meaning of this problem today deserve close attention.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 69-86
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: English
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