ABSTRACT

First published in 1949, The Misinterpretation of Man traces the deeper roots of the ideas which found their most striking and disastrous expression in German National Socialism. It attempts to show the wrong turn which European thought took during the nineteenth century and to challenge its dangerous inheritance, so as to make room for the growth of different and better ideals. The author believes that Christian tradition and values are losing their hold over a great majority of nations leading to an erosion of magnanimity and forgiveness. This book will be of interest to students of philosophy and history.

chapter Chapter I|8 pages

The Experiment of the Nineteenth Century

chapter Chapter II|22 pages

Kant: Man's New Freedom

chapter Chapter III|28 pages

Goethe: Man's New Obligations

chapter Chapter IV|23 pages

The Romantic Flight from Reality

chapter Chapter V|26 pages

Napoleon: The Apotheosis of the Hero

chapter Chapter VI|30 pages

Nietzsche: The Phantom of the Superman

chapter Chapter VII|28 pages

From Hegel to Haeckel: Progress at Any Price

chapter Chapter VIII|33 pages

Marxism

chapter Chapter IX|28 pages

Tolstoy: The Struggle for Virtue

chapter Chapter X|57 pages

Dostoevsky: The Return to Man

chapter |13 pages

Conclusion