The Idiocy of Idealism
by Oscar Levy
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6) is as fine a sentiment as any conceived by man in his countless creeds, whether religious or political. It is, sadly, a sentiment which has brought mankind more strife than solace. In 1940, when a particularly virulent creed had plunged the world into turmoil, Oscar Levy (1867-1946) – a German-born medical practitioner and man-of-letters, best remembered as the initiator, financer and editor of the first translation into English of the complete works of Friedrich Nietzsche in eighteen volumes (Edinburgh & London: T. N. Foulis, 1909-1913) – produced The Idiocy of Idealism, cautionary thoughts on the many idealists and ideologies which have flourished down the ages. George Bernard Shaw’s dust-jacket endorsement notwithstanding, Levy’s wartime message went largely unheeded. Nearly eighty years on, his polemic is as pertinent, if not more so, than ever before. This facsimile of the first and hitherto only English edition of the work is published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Oscar Levy’s birth on 28th March. In The Idiocy of Idealism, Levy offers no alternative ideology a solution to our present problems – that would be a contradiction in terms – striving simply to alert us to the dangers inherent in all ideologies, in the hope that, free of such constraints, the best of which humankind is capable – artistically and intellectually – may yet be harnessed for the benefit of all who inhabit a world which diminishes in size and increases in contentiousness from day to day. Levy’s first published book in English is entitled The Revival of Aristocracy (London: Probsthain & Co., 1906).
Oscar Levy, geboren in Stargard am 28. Marz 1867, gestorben am 13. August 1946, in Oxford, aus judischem Haus. Er verliess Pommern im Jahr 1894 aus Protest gegen den aufkommenden Nationalismus und gegen die Erwartungen, die sein Vater, ein Bankier, in ihn, den altesten Sohn, hatte. Er studierte Medizin und praktizierte seit 1892 zunachst in London. Hier veroffentlichte er seine ersten Publikationen, The Revival of the Aristocracy und Aus dem Exil. Verse eines Entkommenen. Beide Bucher wurden aufgrund ihrer scharfen Kritik am deutschen Kaiser und an deutschnationaler Ideologie verboten. In den folgenden Jahren betatigte er sich als Ubersetzer und Publizist. In den Jahren 1915-1920 lebte er in Genf, veroffentlichte 1915 seine Kriegsaphorismen fur Europaer in Genf und schrieb fur pazifistische, schweizerische Zeitungen. 1920 kehrte er nach England zuruck, musste das Land aber bereits ein Jahr spater wieder verlassen. Offiziell staatenlos, liess er sich in Wies- baden nieder, von wo er 1933 zunachst nach Sud- frankreich, spater nach England emigrierte, wo er 1946 starb. Seine wichtigsten Veroffentlichungen: Nietzsche verstehen. Essays aus dem Exil 1913-1937, Kulturphilosophische Essays 1913-1940, The Idiocy of Idealism (1940), Der Idealismus – ein Wahn (1940).
- By (author) Oscar Levy
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