Alfred Rosenberg: The Nazi Weltanschauung as Modern Gnosis
The present article attempts to shed light on the Gnostic infrastructure underlying the philosophy of Alfred Rosenberg, chief ideologue of the Nazi movement, based on his book The Myth of the Twentieth Century and other writings. Within this frame of reference I wish to elaborate on Eric Voegelin an...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
2012
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| In: |
Politics, religion & ideology
Year: 2012, Volume: 13, Issue: 3, Pages: 311-331 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The present article attempts to shed light on the Gnostic infrastructure underlying the philosophy of Alfred Rosenberg, chief ideologue of the Nazi movement, based on his book The Myth of the Twentieth Century and other writings. Within this frame of reference I wish to elaborate on Eric Voegelin and Hans Jonas' early characterization of Nazism as ‘Modern Gnosis’, applying their theoretical framework to Rosenberg's Weltanschauung. I would like to suggest a structural analysis of Rosenberg's political religion, and to point out the way theological-Gnostic principles were translated into a racial-secular eschatology, while performing a conceptual reversal in Gnostic thought that converted the transcendental God into an immanent manifestation of the race-soul. This transfiguration of Gnostic transcendence into an ‘immanent’ or ‘organic’ worldview, which considers nature or race as a divine substance and the primary source of life, enabled Rosenberg to turn the Nordic man into the founding subject of history, and to transform politics into an instrument that facilitates racial redemption. |
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| ISSN: | 2156-7697 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Politics, religion & ideology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/21567689.2012.698977 |