Romantic personality-worship prepared intellectuals to submit to any ideology

Evidence

What these first modern intellectuals actually prepared was not so much the development of any single opinion but the general mentality of modern German scholars; these latter have proved more than once that hardly an ideology can be found to which they would not willingly submit if the only reality—which even a romantic can hardly afford to overlook—is at stake, the reality of their position. For this peculiar behavior, romanticism provided the most excellent pretext in its unlimited idolization of the “personality” of the individual, whose very arbitrariness became the proof of genius. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 450

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘intellectual as servant of any ideology for position’ mechanism bears on how orientalism/Islamophobia expertise becomes co-opted — connects to later foundational readings. — connects to: Romantic relativism’s chief effect was printing every conceivable opinion; Intellectual clairvoyance only becomes political when it becomes disseminated passion; Ideology converts abstract theories into comprehensive factual lies believed as sacred truths (+2 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 450

Broader Connections

• Romantic revolt glorified will over intellect and allied with nationalism #expands (0.80) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 2637
• Intellectual clairvoyance only becomes political when it becomes disseminated passion #expands (0.75)
• Ideology converts abstract theories into comprehensive factual lies believed as sacred truths #expands (0.75)
• Romantic relativism’s chief effect was printing every conceivable opinion #complicates (0.72)
• Philosophy of praxis elevates the masses rather than disciplining intellectuals #complicates (0.70) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1197