7bit good to finally see some great debating on the listserve. I appreciate everyone's views so far on interpertation of Hitler and his impact on the last 100 years. Intellectual legacies do last longer than any short lived fascist regimes. He was a Nazi sympathizer, and if I remember correctly, he was actually a member of the party as well. As for me, I'd choose Kafka, Nietzsche and Havel.
Intellectual legacies do last longer than any short lived fascist regimes.
Heidigger was a Nazi, but he was also one of the most important philosophers of this century. His work lead directly to the work of Derrida, who was a Jew, and his work is the corner stone of post modernism. For better or worse Heidigger has changed the way we all think and thus how we act. He may not have been a nice guy, but he was an important one. He may not have been a nice guy, but he was an important one.