What made the Holocaust possible? What does it mean from a moral viewpoint? These two questions constitute the main focus of this book. Through concepts borrowed mostly from systems theory, an attempt is made at establishing a theoretical framework for a broad understanding of the genesis of the Holocaust. More specifically, the relationships between ideology, political power, and genocide are discussed, and the following topics are covered: (1) the constitution and the historical evolution of the ideology of the Holocaust, through the genesis of anti-Semitism, the impact of the modern paradigms, and the apparent peculiarities of Nazism; (2) the emergence of powerful means of action designed for implementing the ideology, in the context of totalitarianism; (3) control and freedom as the basic parameters in a decision-making process that went along with a "diffuse Holocaust" phase and generated mechanisms of extensive cooperation; (4) the values and norms that made sense to the Nazis in relation to the Holocaust, with a critical assessment of Nazi ethics insofar as it aimed at subverting the concept of evil and at destroying the self. This book deals with four key dimensions of the Holocaust: ideology, power, act, and meaning.
Contents: Editorial Foreword. Introduction. 1. The Most Important Questions. 2. The Systems Approach to the Holocaust. 3. Some Basic Systems Concepts. 4. Proposals for New Concepts. ONE The Genesis of Anti-Semitism. 1. Preliminary Remarks. 2. Definition of Anti-Semitism. 3. Anti-Semitism as Aggression. 4. Pagan Anti-Semitism. 5. Anti-Judaism and Early Christian Anti-Semitism. 6. The Drift Toward Christian Anti-Semitism. 7. From the Middle Ages to Modernity. TWO The Impact of Modernity. 1. The Ethical Sense of Modernity. 2. Anti-Semitism and the Modern Ethical Paradigm. 3. The Concept of Degeneration. 4. Modernity and the Figures of Evil. 5. The Historical Emergence of Racial Anti-semitism. 6. The Main Information Units Involved. THREE Nazi Anti-Semitism and Lebensraum. 1. The Broad Context. 2. Hitler and the Birth of Nazi Ideology. 3. Blood, Soil, and the Holocaust. 4. The Idea of Extermination. FOUR Totalitarianism as a Precondition of the Holocaust. 1. Nazism as System. 2. The Concept of Totalitarianism. 3. The Build-up of Nazi Totalitarian Power. FIVE The Act and the Requisite Cooperation. 1. Searching for a Solution to the Jewish Problem. 2. Action Against the Racial Enemy. 3. Cooperation as the Prerequisite for Implementation. SIX The Meaning: Nazi Ethics in Its Own Light. 1. The Nazis and the Theoretical Range of Ethics; What Is an Ethic? 2. An Example of Nazi Applied Ethics: The Case of Rudolf Höss. 3. Nazi Ethics as a Borderline Case. SEVEN The Meaning: Nazi Ethics in the Light of Otherness. CONCLUSION. 1. The Logic of Nazi Ideology: A Synthesis. 2. The Morality of Nazi Ideology: A Synthesis. NOTES. BIBLIOGRAPHY.Index.
Contents: Editorial Foreword. Introduction. 1. The Most Important Questions. 2. The Systems Approach to the Holocaust. 3. Some Basic Systems Concepts. 4. Proposals for New Concepts. ONE The Genesis of Anti-Semitism. 1. Preliminary Remarks. 2. Definition of Anti-Semitism. 3. Anti-Semitism as Aggression. 4. Pagan Anti-Semitism. 5. Anti-Judaism and Early Christian Anti-Semitism. 6. The Drift Toward Christian Anti-Semitism. 7. From the Middle Ages to Modernity. TWO The Impact of Modernity. 1. The Ethical Sense of Modernity. 2. Anti-Semitism and the Modern Ethical Paradigm. 3. The Concept of Degeneration. 4. Modernity and the Figures of Evil. 5. The Historical Emergence of Racial Anti-semitism. 6. The Main Information Units Involved. THREE Nazi Anti-Semitism and Lebensraum. 1. The Broad Context. 2. Hitler and the Birth of Nazi Ideology. 3. Blood, Soil, and the Holocaust. 4. The Idea of Extermination. FOUR Totalitarianism as a Precondition of the Holocaust. 1. Nazism as System. 2. The Concept of Totalitarianism. 3. The Build-up of Nazi Totalitarian Power. FIVE The Act and the Requisite Cooperation. 1. Searching for a Solution to the Jewish Problem. 2. Action Against the Racial Enemy. 3. Cooperation as the Prerequisite for Implementation. SIX The Meaning: Nazi Ethics in Its Own Light. 1. The Nazis and the Theoretical Range of Ethics; What Is an Ethic? 2. An Example of Nazi Applied Ethics: The Case of Rudolf Höss. 3. Nazi Ethics as a Borderline Case. SEVEN The Meaning: Nazi Ethics in the Light of Otherness. CONCLUSION. 1. The Logic of Nazi Ideology: A Synthesis. 2. The Morality of Nazi Ideology: A Synthesis. NOTES. BIBLIOGRAPHY.Index.