What Are The Similarities Between Nazi Ideas Of Darwin And Nietzsche

Both the ideas of Darwin and Nietzsche were influential in developing Nazi ideas. The Nazis adopted and used parts of the theory of evolution in order to justify their cruel actions, thereby devaluing human life. Since God did not create humans, there was no need for the Nazis to show mercy towards them. This idea could have been used to justify the killing of millions of people in Nazi Germany. Furthermore, the Nazis killed their own German people in order to further their race through Action T4. Action T4 was a program in which German physicians would sign off patients that were severely ill, mentally disabled, etc. These patients would then be killed through forced euthanasia. The Nazis way of creating a master race through forced euthanasia, although cruel, reflects ideas seen in Darwin’s theory. For example, the mentally ill and incurably sick patients could be seen as the weak portion of the human species. In order to promote the fittest of …show more content…
In his book, Stewart-Williams writes, “Natural selection produces ongoing and inevitable progress, starting with the simplest organisms and creating better and more complex designs as time goes by. Evolutionary change occurs because poorer designs are replaced with better ones…it might also be argued that, among existing organisms, some are superior to others” (167). By this way of thinking, it is reasonable to assume that the various groups of modern-day Homo sapiens are evolved forms that are subject to changing and developing into an improved species. Darwin’s theory of natural selection may also be used to argue that some races are superior and more evolved than others. Stewart-Williams points out the negative implications of this theory by