Haeckel's Monism and the Birth of Fascist Ideology

Utilizing hitherto unexplored material that has become available only after the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, this book examines the Monist philosophy of the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel, and its role in stimulating the birth of Fascist ideology in Italy and France. Focusing on the relevance of evolutionary science, Fascist thought is revealed as intimately related to Haeckel's scientific Monism - an approach that differs from most interpretations that tend to voice skepticism about the existence of a specific intellectual origin for Fascist ideology.

Autorentext

The Author: Daniel Gasman is Professor of Modern European History at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He received his Ph.D. in European History from the University of Chicago, and has also taught at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and at Yeshiva University. In 1987 he lectured at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris as a Directeur d'Études. An earlier book, The Scientific Origins of National Socialism, has received international recognition as a pioneering work in its field.