[IntLawProfessors] RE : CITING HITLER?

[Jacobs, D.L.]

Dear All, 
 
I would definitely use the quotes. The fact that Hitler was "just sick" is beside the point. He has framed the history of modernity light few people have and should not be ignored. Ignoring him, is like ignoring a part of our history and refusing to admit that he, also, represents a part of humanity and what we can do to each other, whether we like it or not.
 
I actually use a quote from Hitler in the first session of a course I teach on the theories of justice, to illustrate the dangers of trying to claim and apply, uncritically, a substantial notion of justice. In that quote he extols the virtues of fighting for "truth and justice" and I can tell you that it gets my students thinking. This is probably the type of example you had in mind, Bill?
 
Of course, we could equally use Stalin, Mao, or a number of totalitarian ideologies to claimed to know the truth.
 
On a different note, the man did have freakishly good insights in human nature (which he arguably did not put to the best use...): "All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach."
 
Best wishes,
 
Dov 
_________ 
Dov Jacobs 
Assistant Professor in Public International Law 
Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies 
Leiden University

Kantoren Stichthage 
Koningin Julianaplein 10 
2595 AA The Hague 
The Netherlands 
tel (NL): 0031639752127 
tel (FR): 0033660621107 
http://dovjacobs.blogspot.com

________________________________

De: intlawprofessors-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au de la part de William Slomanson
Date: mer. 30/05/2012 00:07
À: Peter Radan; intlawprofessors at mailman.anu.edu.au
Objet : Re: [IntLawProfessors] CITING HITLER?



Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

BTW, I think the provocative part would be how "French Revolutionish" Hilter sounded when the jail shoe was on the other foot. BTW, nothing in the particular quotes I have sequestered would be objectionable today, anywhere---as opposed to his primary message in Mein Kampf.
________________________________
From: intlawprofessors-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au [intlawprofessors-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au] on behalf of Peter Radan [peter.radan at mq.edu.au]
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 2:52 PM
To: intlawprofessors at mailman.anu.edu.au
Subject: Re: [IntLawProfessors] CITING HITLER?

What next? Stop offering courses in which Hitler and Nazism is studied?

And, what is wrong with being provocative? Indeed, it should be further encouraged.

Peter Radan

Professor Peter Radan
Macquarie Law School
Faculty of Arts
Macquarie University  NSW 2109
(Buidling W3A Room 526)

Tel:        (02) 9850-7091
Email:    peter.radan at mq.edu.au<mailto:peter.radan at mq.edu.au>


From: intlawprofessors-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au<mailto:intlawprofessors-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au> [mailto:intlawprofessors-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au<mailto:intlawprofessors-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au>] On Behalf Of Sanford Gaines
Sent: Wednesday, 30 May 2012 7:00 AM
To: William Slomanson
Cc: intlawprofessors at mailman.anu.edu.au<mailto:intlawprofessors at mailman.anu.edu.au>
Subject: Re: [IntLawProfessors] CITING HITLER?

One hardly need resort to Hitler--an extremely provocative move by which the nuanced message you want to convey will be totally lost--to find examples of irony, hypocrisy, and corruption of ideals in political writings and actions. As an American, an example that immediately springs to my mind would be to juxtapose the high ideals the US Declaration of Independence (the self-evident truth "that all men are created equal") with the clauses of the US Constitution just 13 years later arranging affairs of state to allow slavery. The irony and corrupting power of this contrast was resolved (at least in the narrow legal sense) only after horrific loss of life in the US Civil War, the traces of which still linger bitterly in the minds of many Americans 150 years later.

Sandy Gaines

On 29 May 2012, at 22:28, Gaya Davidyan wrote:


I would NOT USE a text thus cites Hitler. He was a sick person and i don't think any of his ideas may be used eve for irones.

Gaya
2012/5/30 William Slomanson <bills at tjsl.edu<mailto:bills at tjsl.edu>>
Assume that an Int'l Law textbook cites Hitler's Mein Kampf (possibly on two occasions) as chapter-opening two-sentence vignettes/food for thought/incredible ironies. Each passage contains language that sounds like the French Revolution or American Constitution---written when he was in jail in 1924. After he came to power, he then totally disregarded his pre-Furer human rights musings. One underlying purpose would be to futher expose Hitler's hypocrisy and, as they say, to illustrate how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Question #1: Would you NOT do so, if this were your textbook? Would you NOT use a text that thus cites Hitler? Would it NOT make a difference?

Question #2: Would the mere citation of Mein Kampf in that textbook bar it from being used in certain countries?

Thoughts?
Bill



--
Gayane Davidyan

Associate Professor
School of Law
Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia
Intlawprofessors is moderated by Don Anton and hosted by the Australian National University College of Law


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