The American Historical Review · 1990 · 73 citations · 0 references
HumanitiesPolitical ScienceSociologyIntellectual HistoryPolitical HistoryPolitical SociologyGerman Intellectual HistoryGerman NationalismGerman PhilosophyGerman Social HistoryPolitical IdeologySocialismNational ConservatismNationalism Under National SocialismPolitical ConservatismPolitical Ideology CritiquePostwar German SocietyTotalitarian RegimesWeimar Thought
Weimar intellectuals, once leading liberal thought, increasingly embraced totalitarian solutions, contributing to the rise of National Socialism, playing roles in the Third Reich, and later reshaping their political views after experiencing totalitarianism. The study examines Hans Freyer as a case study of right‑wing intellectual failure, highlighting an overlooked aspect of German conservatism. The author analyzes how political ideology and academic social science interacted in democratic and totalitarian contexts, tracing how National Socialism reshaped German conservatism and how tensions between former collaborators and opponents continued to shape West German intellectual life after the war.
Why did some of the best and brightest of Weimar intellectuals advocate totalitarian solutions to the problems of liberal democratic, capitalist society? How did their radical contribute to the rise of National Socialism? What roles did they play in the Third Reich? How did their experience of totalitarianism lead them to recast their social and political thought? This biography of Hans Freyer, a prominent German sociologist and political ideologist, is a case study of intellectuals and a god that failed--not on the political left, but on the right, where its significance has been overlooked. The author explores the interaction of political ideology and academic social science in democratic and totalitarian regimes, the transformation of German conservatism by the experience of National Socialism, and the ways in which tension between former collaborators and former opponents of National Socialism continued to mold West German intellectual life in the postwar decades.