From director J.J. Abrams comes the next installment in the Star Trek saga, Star Trek Into Darkness. Learn more |
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Special Features
None.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Nietzsche and the Nazis is such a wonderful combination of information and entertaining presentation that I cannot praise it too highly. In fact, I plan to use it in my Existentialism course. (Dr. Fred Seddon, Pennsylvania State University) --Victory Multimedia, 2007
Recently I had the good fortune to watch a fascinating, informative and very disturbing DVD, produced and written by professor of philosophy Stephen Hicks of Rockford College in Illinois, titled Nietzsche and the Nazis. I am an avid fan of the History Channel and other forums where the theme that ideas have consequences can be encountered, but the work on this DVD was better than nearly everything else along these lines I have seen. ... Professor Hicks' presentation is immensely rich with facts, quotations, analysis and insight. Especially fascinating is the list of very erudite Europeans - Noble Laureates and the like - who eagerly supported the Nazis, as well as the slogans Nazis loved which are often exactly what our own politicians urge us to internalize - for example, about the superiority of the public versus the private interest. Anyone with just an ounce of interest in recent intellectual and political history will find watching this DVD a disturbing as well as riveting experience. (Dr. Tibor Machan, Chapman University) --Desert Dispatch, June 5, 2007
Recently I had the good fortune to watch a fascinating, informative and very disturbing DVD, produced and written by professor of philosophy Stephen Hicks of Rockford College in Illinois, titled Nietzsche and the Nazis. I am an avid fan of the History Channel and other forums where the theme that ideas have consequences can be encountered, but the work on this DVD was better than nearly everything else along these lines I have seen. ... Professor Hicks' presentation is immensely rich with facts, quotations, analysis and insight. Especially fascinating is the list of very erudite Europeans - Noble Laureates and the like - who eagerly supported the Nazis, as well as the slogans Nazis loved which are often exactly what our own politicians urge us to internalize - for example, about the superiority of the public versus the private interest. Anyone with just an ounce of interest in recent intellectual and political history will find watching this DVD a disturbing as well as riveting experience. (Dr. Tibor Machan, Chapman University) --Desert Dispatch, June 5, 2007
Product Description
Studio: Victor Multimedia-05 Release Date: 01/09/2007 Run time: 165 minutes
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
This documentary is an unusually fine example of what philosophy can do when it's done properly. Stephen Hicks takes the viewer on a information rich tour of the intellectual history of 20th Century Germany. His presentation is scholarly, fastidious, and fair.
Hicks refuses to completely acquit Nietzsche of responsibility for Nazism, but he doesn't stoop to cheap caricatures, either. Nietzsche, no pale criminal, would likely accept responsibility for everything Hicks levels at him. After all, to call Nietzsche "dangerous" is merely to appreciate him in full.
But Hicks is not merely doing positive intellectual history. This video essay is also a normative philosophical endeavor. Hicks takes the unfashionable view that ideas have consequences, that they drive history. Hicks appreciates that Nazism was a highly sophisticated and fully-articulated philosophy. As Walter put it The Big Lebowski, "Say what you want about National Socialism dude - it's an ethos." Nazism was not a spasm of madness, but a coherent response to perennial questions. It is not enough that we dismiss Nazism, or simply forget it; in the long run it's certain to emerge once again. Instead, Hick holds, we have to engage it - and engage Nietzsche - to determine and then to prove where each goes wrong and why.
Hicks sees philosophy as a sort of ideological bomb squad, dispatched to dismantle rogue ideologies before they become catastrophes. As thrilling as I find this notion, my view is a bit more cynical. In 1930's Germany, Hicks has identified one of the few points in the last 2000 years when philosophy had some causal traction on the highway of world history - and in that instance the result was not pretty.
Still, if you're interested in these things you'll be hard-pressed to find a more engaging three hours of television anywhere.
Hicks refuses to completely acquit Nietzsche of responsibility for Nazism, but he doesn't stoop to cheap caricatures, either. Nietzsche, no pale criminal, would likely accept responsibility for everything Hicks levels at him. After all, to call Nietzsche "dangerous" is merely to appreciate him in full.
But Hicks is not merely doing positive intellectual history. This video essay is also a normative philosophical endeavor. Hicks takes the unfashionable view that ideas have consequences, that they drive history. Hicks appreciates that Nazism was a highly sophisticated and fully-articulated philosophy. As Walter put it The Big Lebowski, "Say what you want about National Socialism dude - it's an ethos." Nazism was not a spasm of madness, but a coherent response to perennial questions. It is not enough that we dismiss Nazism, or simply forget it; in the long run it's certain to emerge once again. Instead, Hick holds, we have to engage it - and engage Nietzsche - to determine and then to prove where each goes wrong and why.
Hicks sees philosophy as a sort of ideological bomb squad, dispatched to dismantle rogue ideologies before they become catastrophes. As thrilling as I find this notion, my view is a bit more cynical. In 1930's Germany, Hicks has identified one of the few points in the last 2000 years when philosophy had some causal traction on the highway of world history - and in that instance the result was not pretty.
Still, if you're interested in these things you'll be hard-pressed to find a more engaging three hours of television anywhere.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I had never seen a Lecture I liked before, now I have. Although there is very little about Friedrich Nietzche, Dr Hicks does a great job of showing how Nazi philosophy was influenced by Nietzche. This video is crammed full of facts about how the National Socialist of Germany gaine popular support and how their methods shaped a generation of followers. It is put in terms that will allow you to see that the very same methods are in place with in western culture today without a mention of modern times in the video. In this video you will discover the strategy behind who supported the National Socialists, how this strategy perpetuated National Socialist support, and even how college students were behind book burnings. Although there was not an obvious agenda, it leads to the feeling when watching this lecture that Dr. Hicks was warning us that this history could easily repeat itself if we become complacent. This Video should be required viewing for highschool students. After viewing this video I found Dr Hicks website and posted a thank you for such a great video, and he responded. Some people are a benefit to humanity, and Dr Stephen R.C. Hicks is one of those people.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
I thought I knew a lot about World War II (and Nietzsche) until I saw this documentary on Netflix.
It was simply fantastic--most writing/documentaries on WWII strike me as a form of "pornography" in that they go on over and over about what happened and the evil things that were done, but almost none organize, explain, and make sense of the mass of detail/facts as Prof Hicks does here. Also, many either glorify Nietzsche or portray him as "evil" instead of taking the even handed approach that this documentary takes.
I hope Prof. Hicks does many more similar productions--I have become a big fan, and plan to buy his DVD and the accompanying book for my local library.
I also commend him for his initiative in the unusual (and inspiring) approach he took to produce this.
It was simply fantastic--most writing/documentaries on WWII strike me as a form of "pornography" in that they go on over and over about what happened and the evil things that were done, but almost none organize, explain, and make sense of the mass of detail/facts as Prof Hicks does here. Also, many either glorify Nietzsche or portray him as "evil" instead of taking the even handed approach that this documentary takes.
I hope Prof. Hicks does many more similar productions--I have become a big fan, and plan to buy his DVD and the accompanying book for my local library.
I also commend him for his initiative in the unusual (and inspiring) approach he took to produce this.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb and moves fast
Superb lecture with graphics.
It moves fast, so stay in the same room with your tv.
Prof. Hicks clearly knows his material.
Think History Channel times 10
It moves fast, so stay in the same room with your tv.
Prof. Hicks clearly knows his material.
Think History Channel times 10
Published 4 days ago by V. R. Padgett
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nietzsche and the Nazis
Stephen Hicks exceptional study is outstanding. After years of my study in all areas of the German Nazis, his research in Nietzsche's philosophical writings and the Nazis... Read more
Published 9 days ago by dagann
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Introduction to Stephen R. C. Hicks Ideas
This DVD was my first encounter with the works of Stephen Hicks. Though one may wish to take this 3 hour lecture in 3 segments, it's got plenty of thought-proving ideas. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Arthur
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stephen Hicks is a Rare Find Among Philosophy Professors!
This is what philosophy professors are supposed to do! I majored in philosophy in graduate school, and I know firsthand how obtuse, abstract, and detached from reality philosophers... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Winged Victory
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nietzsche and the nazis
The sound does NOT work on the entire DVD. Turning the sound up does not help. Please advise. Thank you.
Published 4 months ago by Beverley Anderson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good
Hicks' film makes valuable points in detailing Nietzsche's slave vs. master moralities and a brief dip into the Great Man vs. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Cosmoetica
1.0 out of 5 stars
I wish I could give it a 0 out of 5
Simplistic argumentation begins at the outset with his refuting of "weak explanations" for the Nazi regime and continues throughout. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ben Brucato
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nietzsche and the Nazis
An outstanding lecture about the Philosopher's views and how the Nazis distorted them to fit their ideology. Read more
Published 12 months ago by George S. Pick
1.0 out of 5 stars
Thinly disguised Objectivist Propaganda
I watched the entire 2 hours and 50 minutes (twice) of this DVD. About 20 minutes into the "personal view" documentary a number of keyword alarm bells started to ring. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Philo Vance
4.0 out of 5 stars
I've looked at clouds from both sides now.
It's always good to see a different view of history and events and speculate through a different set of eyes. An economist would view this through an economic filter. Read more
Published 15 months ago by bernie
