Totalitarianism And Political Religion: An Intellectual History

Description

The totalitarian systems that arose in the twentieth century presented themselves as secular. Yet, as A. James Gregor argues in this book, they themselves functioned as religions. He presents an intellectual history of the rise of these political religions, tracing a set of ideas that include belief that a certain text contains impeccable truths; notions of infallible, charismatic leadership; and the promise of human redemption through strict obedience, selfless sacrifice, total dedication, and unremitting labor. Gregor provides unique insight into the variants of Marxism, Fascism, and National Socialism that dominated our immediate past. He explores the seeds of totalitarianism as secular faith in the nineteenth-century ideologies of Ludwig Feuerbach, Moses Hess, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Giuseppe Mazzini, and Richard Wagner. He follows the growth of those seeds as the twentieth century became host to Leninism and Stalinism, Italian Fascism, and German National Socialism—each a totalitarian institution and a political religion. Copyright......Page 2 Title Page......Page 3 Dedication......Page 4 Acknowledgments......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 Preface......Page 8 1. Introduction......Page 11 2. Hegelians after Hegel......Page 43 3. Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx: History as Religion......Page 76 4. Leninism: Revolution as Religion......Page 109 5. Fascism: The Antecedents......Page 142 6. Fascism: The State as Religion......Page 172 7. The Religiopolitical Background of National Socialism......Page 204 8. National Socialism: Race as Religion......Page 237 9. Consolidation and Decay......Page 269 10. Conclusions and Speculations......Page 305 Index......Page 337