When we examine the communication strategies of the “New Right”, we inevitably encounter the term “philosophy": the authors of the right-wing scene lay claim to philosophy, referring to classical and contemporary texts of philosophy, but also to marginal authors who have been marginalized and forgotten by the “woke” “university philosophy” (which is not true). They refer to the writings of the Counter-Enlightenment as well as to culturally pessimistic and right-wing conservative thinkers who supposedly belong to a very different philosophical tradition. In the workshop “Is There a Philosophy of Right-Wing Extremism?” we explored the question of how and in what way the New Right “deals” with philosophy. Do they merely adapt or instrumentalize it? Or do they develop new philosophical insights?

The program of the workshop, which took place online via Zoom on November 28th and 29th, 2024, was divided into two parts: On November 28, we looked together at current phenomena of “New Right” actors from German-speaking countries. We explored the question of which philosophical topics, disciplines and schools right-wing actors refer to from different perspectives. Our focus was on the relationship of an intellectually staged “New Right” to philosophy and whether or not this might be of a purely strategic nature. The second day of the workshop dealt with international far-right phenomena and their philosophical references, such as (historical) borrowings from philosophers ranging from Carl Schmitt to Alexander Dugin. Here, too, the question arose as to whether there is a philosophy of the extreme right and, if so, in what sense.

The closing discussion dealt with the future of research on the philosophy “of the” extreme right. We discussed whether it is even possible to speak of a philosophy of the extreme right: do extreme right actors philosophize at all, how could this be researched, and which questions remain unanswered. In summary, we have to conclude that there is a philosophy of the extreme right. However, the question of the extent to which it has a philosophy itself remains ambivalent and was assessed differently during the workshop. We will also have to clarify how to deal with the paradoxes and contradictions within the philosophy of the extreme right. Another point of discussion was the question of what philosophy can contribute to the study of the extreme right. In particular, the study of the philosophy of time could be helpful in understanding the references to eternity and the religious or mythical elements in the philosophy of the extreme right. An interdisciplinary approach would certainly be helpful here – but while research on right-wing extremism is explicitly interdisciplinary, it seems that philosophy in particular needs to broaden its view to other disciplines in order to learn to understand recent phenomena of the extreme right.

The subsequent question of how the philosophical study of the writings of the extreme right can be brought out of the “dirty corner of our discipline” was also the subject of the work-shop. Here, it was suggested that the knowledge gained and the necessity of philosophical engagement with the extreme right should be more clearly emphasized in one’s own disci-pline. The content of right-wing extremist (philosophical) thought must be taken seriously (without wanting to justify or defend it) in order to understand and criticize it and to be able to counter it with a different philosophy. The plurality of the far-right thought should also be taken into account in order to differentiate the ideology.

The original call for the workshop can be found here .

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM:

Presentations in English will start on the second day.

Day 1: (November, 28th 2024)

• 9:15: Welcome (German)
• 9:30 – 10:10: Peter Hofmann (Frankfurt a.M.): Zum Verhältnis von Theorie und Praxis in der Neuen Rechten. Rechte Philosophieaneignung im ‘Kulturkampf‘
• 10:15 – 10:55: Veronica Bezold, Philip Dietrich (Passau): Zwischen Pinterest-Lifestyle, NS-Mode und Heldenepos: Wie rechtsradikale Influencer*innen die Philosophie der Ästhetik für ihre Zwecke nutzen
• 11:00 – 11:40: Sebastian Johannes Jaschke (Darmstadt): Philosophische Rechtfertigungen von Verschwörungsglauben. Gibt es eine rechte Philosophie der Verschwörungstheorien?
• 11:40 – 11:50 Break
• 11:50 – 12:30: Oliver Honer (Sersheim): Rechter Boomer-Humor, AfD-Kitsch und KI-generierter Nationalpathos. Eine Analyse politischer Mythen der ‚Deskralisation‘ und ‚Sakralisation‘
• 12:35 – 13:15: Lasse Monske (Berlin), Paul Obermeyer (IPU Berlin): Ironie, Hohn und Subversion. Selbstinszenierungen der Neuen Rechten als politische Theoretiker:innen und Philosoph:innen
• 13:15 – 14:00 Lunch Break
• 14:00 – 14:40: Haziran Zeller (Kiel): Radikaler Realismus. Gedanken zur Philosophizität des rechten und rechtsextremen Denkens
• 14:45 – 15:25: Nick Nestler, Katharina Möbius, Tim-David Zenglein (Mainz/Marburg): „KI ist Macht“ Neuste Onlinestrategien der extremen Rechten
• 15:30 – 16:10: Tobias Wallmeyer: “Good Times Create Weak Men, Weak Men Create Hard Times” – Die Rechtsradikale Diagnose der Dekadenz als (Gegenstand und Herausforderung für die kritische) Sozialphilosophie

Day 2: (November, 29th 2024)

• 9:15 Welcome Day II
• 9:20 – 10:00: Laila Riedmiller (Erlangen-Nürnberg): Rechtsterroristische Zeitlichkeitsvorstellungen oder: Beschleunigung als politische Strategie?
• 10:05 – 10:45: Margaretha Steinhaus, Janine Hagemeister (Frankfurt a.M.): Transhumanismus als rechte Philosophie?
• 10:45 – 10:50: Break
• 10:50 Welcome to our English-speaking colleagues
• 11:00 – 11:40: Moritz Pitscheider (Chemnitz): On the Philosophy of History in Fascism
• 11:45 – 12:25 Moritz Maurer (Heidelberg): National Socialism and Occultism. Julius Evola in the German Eye 1920-1945
• 12:30 – 13:10: Peli Meir (Haifa): Extreme Right Political-Philosophical Underpinning: The Political as Zoological Organism
• 13:10 – 13:50 Lunch break
• 13:50 – 14:30: Christian Demmelbauer (Wien): Communitarianism and the identitarian critique of liberalism
• 14:35 – 15:15: Christophe Majastre (Brussels): Making far-right philosophy popular? Gerd-Klaus Kaltenbrunner and the 1970’s Tendenzwende
• 15 min Break
• 15:30 – 16:10: Thomas Charrayre (Paris): Philosophical roots of the radical right: Do we need to look outside the canon?
• 16:15 – 16:55: Elad Magomedov (Leuven): Alexander Dugin’s Postmodern Archaism
• 17:00 Closing Panel: Future investigations of right-wing (extremist) philosophy [max 30 minutes]