In May of 1934, Husserl wrote a strange little text about the Earth, which has garnered a lot of scholarly interest.The text centres around a phenomenological investigation regarding our relation...Show moreIn May of 1934, Husserl wrote a strange little text about the Earth, which has garnered a lot of scholarly interest.The text centres around a phenomenological investigation regarding our relation to the Earth. It might be considered controversial in the sense that it claims that the earth does not move. It might also be said to be controversial because many scholars can’t seem to figure out whether it is trying to break out of Husserl’s egology or whether it subjects the earth in its constitutive function to the transcendental ego. However, I think the text should be controversial for another reason – a reason that, especially in the English translation, seems to have flown under the radar. The concepts Husserl uses to mediate our relationship to earth are, in my opinion, highly suspect, especially if we look at the time and place he wrote the text: Nazi Germany. I want to draw our attention to three concepts Husserl uses to argue for our necessary relation to the earth, and what their implication is for this text's relation to National Socialist ideology; these terms being Boden, Heimat and Volk.Show less
This thesis provides an analysis of three marginal historical movements from the inter-war period in the 20th century; German neocolonialism, Japanese Pan-Asianism and Pan-Africanism. All three...Show moreThis thesis provides an analysis of three marginal historical movements from the inter-war period in the 20th century; German neocolonialism, Japanese Pan-Asianism and Pan-Africanism. All three movements represent trends that present alternative views of the dominant ideologies of the century which they were ultimately suppressed by with the onset of the Second World War. Based on what documentation they left behind however, a model can be constructed that attempts to explain how these movements could have survived or otherwise have seen a resurgence in the absence of global liberalism and communism. Alternative histories found in video games, such as the popular Hearts of Iron IV expansion made by its (non-academic) community The New Order: Last Days of Europe provide an opportunity to put this model into practice, but the shortcomings in its existing narrative regarding Africa must first be addressed.Show less
This thesis looks at the motivation of soldiers and the leadership of the German army commiting war crimes during the first half of the Second World War. Nazi ideology provided and enabled the...Show moreThis thesis looks at the motivation of soldiers and the leadership of the German army commiting war crimes during the first half of the Second World War. Nazi ideology provided and enabled the willingness to commit war crimes. Even if the majority of soldiers and generals did not agree with Nazi ideology, they did participate in the actions that were committed in the name of National Socialist ideology.Show less
