UID:
almafu_9960005059302883
Umfang:
1 online resource (227 pages)
Ausgabe:
First edition.
ISBN:
9789004494916
,
900449491X
Serie:
Value Inquiry Book Series ; Volume 81
Inhalt:
What made the Holocaust possible? What does it mean from a moral viewpoint? These two questions constitute the main focus of this book. Through concepts borrowed mostly from systems theory, an attempt is made at establishing a theoretical framework for a broad understanding of the genesis of the Holocaust. More specifically, the relationships between ideology, political power, and genocide are discussed, and the following topics are covered: (1) the constitution and the historical evolution of the ideology of the Holocaust, through the genesis of anti-Semitism, the impact of the modern paradigms, and the apparent peculiarities of Nazism; (2) the emergence of powerful means of action designed for implementing the ideology, in the context of totalitarianism; (3) control and freedom as the basic parameters in a decision-making process that went along with a «diffuse Holocaust» phase and generated mechanisms of extensive cooperation; (4) the values and norms that made sense to the Nazis in relation to the Holocaust, with a critical assessment of Nazi ethics insofar as it aimed at subverting the concept of evil and at destroying the self. This book deals with four key dimensions of the Holocaust: ideology, power, act, and meaning.
Anmerkung:
Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- EDITORIAL FOREWORD -- INTRODUCTION -- 1. The Most Important Questions -- 2. The Systems Approach to the Holocaust -- 3. Some Basic Systems Concepts -- A. System and Information -- B. Organization and Hierarchy -- C. Homeostasis and Cybernetics -- 4. Proposals for New Concepts -- ONE The Genesis of Anti-Semitism -- 1. Preliminary Remarks -- 2. Definition of Anti-Semitism -- 3. Anti-Semitism as Aggression -- 4. Pagan Anti-Semitism -- 5. Anti-Judaism and Early Christian Anti-Semitism -- 6. The Drift Toward Christian Anti-Semitism -- 7. From the Middle Ages to Modernity -- TWO The Impact of Modernity -- 1. The Ethical Sense of Modernity -- 2. Anti-Semitism and the Modern Ethical Paradigm -- 3. The Concept of Degeneration -- 4. Modernity and the Figures of Evil -- 5. The Historical Emergence of Racial Anti-Semitism -- 6. The Main Information Units Involved -- THREE Nazi Anti-Semitism and Lebensraum -- 1. The Broad Context -- 2. Hitler and the Birth of Nazi Ideology -- 3. Blood, Soil, and the Holocaust -- 4. The Idea of Extermination -- FOUR Totalitarianism as a Precondition of the Holocaust -- 1. Nazism as System -- 2. The Concept of Totalitarianism -- 3. The Build-up of Nazi Totalitarian Power -- FIVE The Act and the Requisite Cooperation -- 1. Searching for a Solution to the Jewish Problem -- 2. Action Against the Racial Enemy -- A. Symptoms Were First to Be Controlled -- B. Causes Could then Be Weeded Out -- 3. Cooperation as the Prerequisite for Implementation -- SIX The Meaning: Nazi Ethics in Its Own Light -- 1. The Nazis and the Theoretical Range of Ethics: What Is an Ethic? -- 2. An Example of Nazi Applied Ethics: The Case of Rudolf Höss -- 3. Nazi Ethics as a Borderline Case -- A. Nationalism/Anti-Semitism -- B. Optimism -- C. Nihilism.
,
D. The Ultimate Act of Faith: The Political Will -- E. Illogism -- SEVEN The Meaning: Nazi Ethics in the Light of Otherness -- 1. Evil as a Systems Effect -- 2. History of Evil -- 3. Metaphysics of Evil -- 4. Theology of Evil -- CONCLUSION -- 1. The Logic of Nazi Ideology: A Synthesis -- 2. The Morality of Nazi Ideology: A Synthesis -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR -- INDEX -- VALUE INQUIRY BOOK SERIES -- Titles Published.
Weitere Ausg.:
ISBN 9789042007055
Weitere Ausg.:
ISBN 9042007052
Sprache:
Englisch
DOI:
10.1163/9789004494916
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