With the rise of the far-right trend in Europe and the Western world, European intellectuals view the German philosopher of phenomenology, ontology and existentialism (Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)) as one of the inspiring faces of this trend.
Despite his reputation as one of the most prominent philosophers of the twentieth century, Heidegger was a member of the German Nazi Party in the early 1930s, coinciding with his assumption of the post of President of the University of Freiburg, and his philosophy was used to legalize populism and cultural racism of the extreme right, according to specialists in the study of German philosophy.
In his article on the website "Open Democracy", the academic Julian Gobfart, a specialist in the study of the new right, and national ideologies and philosophies, quoted quotes of radical right-wing parties symbolizing their inspiration from the ideas of the German philosopher. In an interview with Spiegel, Steve Bannon, a former chief adviser to US President Donald Trump, described Heidegger as "my man."
Inspiration of the German philosopher
In his article, Gobfart described Heidegger as "a central philosopher of the known far-right", and added, "In recent years, new research has contributed to understanding the role of" Heideggerism "in contemporary far-right politics, particularly in America and white nationalism in Russia."
Goupfart says that the hard right does not portray itself as an advocate of the environment, but rather as an advocate of nature as an integral part of local traditions, national heritage and white identity.
In Germany, Heidegger's popularity on the far right is related to his "patriotic" ideas and his vision of a white identity that unites people and elites on a local basis of the common "glorious" spirit and specific racist traditions, and views others culturally and religiously as inferior, according to the author.
Heidegger's philosophical theorization contributed to defining blood and dust as a national basis, and the German philosopher spoke about what he called the “pernicious influence” of technology and global tendencies on “existence”, and examined the gravity of what globalized manufacturing forces called the “German existence” which contributed to defining Nazi German identity as the opposite of the world All of it, in the time of World War II.
Theorizing about racism
According to Gopfart, Nazi cultural racism that denies religious and cultural differences can be seen today in the racist right-wing rhetoric towards Islam.
Heidegger's philosophy of "race" summarizes a position that was central to the Nazi movement and its populist politics, by merging the concepts of race and religion in a vague term on spirit or cultural essence, a philosophical position that produced theorizing European white supremacy ideas and transforming racism into a "aesthetic and cultural" issue.
By linking concepts of identity, heritage, and environmental issues to the critique of technological globalization, Heidegger's philosophy provided rich ammunition to the contemporary extreme right, by demanding the protection and discrimination of “ordinary white people”, the homeland, and white national culture against liberal, technocratic, leftist, globalized elites, and others of other ethnic origins.
Gopfart says that Heidegger's inspiration allowed the ultra-nationalist right movement to embed its ideological vision within an environmental protection movement that views the environmental issue as a union of nature, culture and national heritage against globalization, and Heidegger's philosophy provides the philosophical and spiritual basis against rationality and technocratic.
Through Heidegger's theorization, the hardline European right wing attacks green parties and left-wing environmentalists, describing them as "technocrats driven by narrow scientific rationalism focusing on climate change", but the hard right defends the environment by considering nature part of the white national identity.
Heidegger's ideas also allow hard-right intellectuals to embrace a populist style, through the idea of "an intellectual rooted in the people and local traditions" that Heidegger has considered, and which he views as being against the "nihilistic rationality of modernity".
Researchers assume that Heidegger believed that the western world was moving toward total war, living on the edge of deep nihilism and rejecting all religious and moral principles, which would make the West a barren land inhabited by brutalities who possessed technology and tools, and lived in a world of unprecedented ignorance and barbarism where everything was allowed to do .
Far right
The description of the "extreme right" refers to a political trend centered mainly in Europe, adopts an extremist tendency hostile to Muslims, Jews and foreigners, has an extreme adherence to national values and political, cultural and linguistic identity, and is characterized by a strong tendency to Christian religious conservatism.
Among the most famous far-right parties in Europe are the "National Front" in France, which is hostile to foreigners and Islam, the Democratic Center Party in Switzerland, which was behind a referendum on banning the construction of minarets in the country, which took place on November 29, 2009, and the German "Pegida Movement", founded in 2014 and opposes what it calls "Islamization of the West".
A shocking study published by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation last year, in which 1,890 Germans participated, revealed that about half of Germans believe in ideas classified as "right-wing" literature.
The attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, last year opened the file of the extreme right movement in the West, especially after it took a more violent and cross-border nature, and recent years have witnessed a major shift in the extreme right's orientation towards universal ideas such as identity and culture rather than focusing on issues of race.