Heidegger admired Hitler as a craftsman shaping Germany, not as an ideologue

Evidence

Over dinner a little later, the topic of Hitler and his lack of education came up, and this time Heidegger said, bizarrely, ‘Education is completely irrelevant, just look at his wonderful hands!’ Coming from anyone else, this would sound purely eccentric. From Heidegger, with his emphasis on handiwork and the wielding of tools, it was significant. He seemed to be attracted less by Nazi ideology than by the idea of Hitler dextrously and firmly moulding the country into a new form. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 282

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Heidegger’s concept of handiwork in Being and Time and to the general question of why intellectuals embraced fascism. — connects to: Heidegger’s vigilance meant resolute German destiny, not opposing Nazi violence — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 289; Heidegger’s Nazi commitment emerged from the objective structure of his philosophy — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2299; Heidegger embraced Nazism out of conviction, not convenience or coercion. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 269 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Heidegger embraced Nazism out of conviction, not convenience or coercion. #corroborates (0.82) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 269
• Heidegger’s Nazi commitment emerged from the objective structure of his philosophy #complicates (0.73) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2299
• Heidegger refused to disavow Nazism because he saw easy repudiations as loathsome #complicates (0.73) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 604
• Heidegger’s vigilance meant resolute German destiny, not opposing Nazi violence #expands (0.72) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 289
• Heidegger’s authentic-versus-inauthentic distinction left politics to heroic fatalism without causes #complicates (0.70) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 412