We all know know the famous author and artist, Adolf Hitler, who is known for
reasons but those. Hitler is known worldwide for causing the Holocaust. The holocaust was a
demonstration of Hitler’s anti semitism, this can also be seen through his beliefs.
The reason for my choice of the person, is because Adolf Hitler had an interesting
childhood, from an innocent boy to a man of destruction. Talking about his environment will
show you how Hitler has been impacted by certain events throughout his life, and could
possibly even show his transition.
Hitler’s thoughts and way of thinking resembled the Aristotle philosophical method.
This method of thinking was based off of inspection and analysis. This type of method was
empirical. Once there was a completion of detailed observations, with an addition of data
collection, these would then be used to present categorization of evidence to support the
correlation. The foundation of knowledge would then be produced by these. This would then
further advance and from it, a theory or principle could be generated.
A type of theorizing I will mostly focus on is critical thinking through induction, and
Hitler’s use of this, mainly about his anti semitism. This method is what the Aristotelian
approach is recognized for, critical thinking through inductive reasoning. (M.P.Ossa)
Inductive arguments are based off of probability. The conclusion works in terms of an
educational guess. There’s is no confirmation that the conclusion is true, but what is known
of the topic suggests toward supporting it. Most decisions are made up as a result of the
past, but there is a problem with this, the past is not always resembled by the future and
because of this, inductive reasoning has a probability of being incorrect at any time.
(crashcourse)
The origin of Hitler’s anti semitism consisted of many factors. Adolf Hitler held the
jews responsible for Germany’s loss in World War I, he believed that germany had lost the
first world war from someone on the inside, mainly the jews and communists, this can be
confirmed as it was written in the book “Mein Kampf”. The loss in World War I was blamed
on the jews, because of the jewish economic power at the time of the war. During the great
war, most of the economic establishments, banks and businesses were owned by the jewish
population. Hitler thought of the jewish religion as being inferior to Aryans, or pure germans.
This unfortunately could barely be one of his reasons, as Hitler himself was not Aryan. There
are countless theories towards Adolf Hitler’s anti semitism, one of these being his father. The
humiliating and harmful personal history that his father was of jewish descent was a rumour,
however there has not been enough evidence towards this claim to support it.(Green, David
B)
Most of Hitler’s reasons towards his anti semitism are based off of the past and his
experiences. Hitler reaches his conclusion through his premises which are based off of the
past. Some of his premises towards the conclusion are not true or valid, as there is no
evidence that supports the fact that the jews were responsible for the outcome of the first
world war, which leaves his conclusion to be invalid. Hitler’s thoughts and arguments are
made through inductive reasoning, but as mentioned earlier, inductive reasoning always has
a probability of being incorrect or invalid.
In 1924, Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison. During this time he had
written the book “Mein Kampf”. This was an excellent demonstration of Hitler’s incoherent
thoughts. This emotional autobiography revealed his ambiguous early life. Hitler has had a
tough time going through his childhood as it was full of failure and rejection. He lost his
father at the age of 13, and later at 18 lost his mother. These had serious effects on Adolf’s
mental state, although he may not have been as affected from the death of his father than
from the death of his mother. (Adolf Hitler)
Adolf constantly defied his father and went against his wishes of studying for a
government position. His mother was the only person Hitler genuinely loved. While she was
ill and on edge of death, he did all his mother desired with no question, and demonstrated
his love towards her. As it turns out the doctor who was taking care of Hitler’s mother, was
actually a jew. However it is a mystery if this affected Hitler’s thoughts on jews, as many
sources state different things. Some state he was thankful towards the doctor and even
called him a “noble jew”,(Rosenwald, Michael S) while other sources state that he was
furious at the doctor because he could not save his mother.
According to the book, Hitler: A biography written by Ian Kershaw “He carried her
picture with him down to the last days in the bunker” (Kershaw, Ian) This proves his love
towards his mother, and the persons death who inflicted most damage to his mental state.
Subsequently after the death of his mother, Klara, Hitler moved to Vienna, Austria,
where he would apply for the Academy of arts, only to be rejected once more and another
failure added to his list. Because of his lack in business skills, Adolf Hitler made a living off of
cheap postcards that he painted, and worked as a laborer in the construction trades.
It could be argued that the reason Hitler turned to a monster who slaughtered millions
was because of the tragic death of his parents, and his connection with them. I support this
argument, however I don't believe it was only the death of his parents. Obviously as
mentioned before, the death of his mother shattered Adolf Hitler, but I believe there was
more than just that. If we look at another historical figure, who slaughtered even more lives
than Hitler, around 20 million to be precise, there can be seen a massive difference between
the early life of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
Joseph Stalin, although lived in a peasant village in his early life, he had a caring
mother, and excelled in school, for a time, until he left. Stalin was also regarded with cruelty
by the other children from his village, as a result of this he began to develop a vicious streak
for those who would impose him. (Joseph Stalin)
This comparison then leads me to the conclusion, of why Adolf Hitler became the
man we know him as today, it was because of multiple factors. Major ones being that he lost
his parents at a young age, especially his mother, who was the only person he genuinely
loved, his rejection of the Academy of Arts, which basically shattered his dreams into a
million pieces and the struggle for survival afterwards. Hitler’s mental state kept on declining
as a result of the concurrent and constant failures and rejection throughout his lifetime and
the reason for his anti semitic thoughts is possibly the death of his mother, and that event
could have sparked his hatred towards the religion.
Work cited:
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crashcourse. “How to Argue - Induction & Abduction: Crash Course Philosophy #3.”YouTube,
YouTube, 22 Feb. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wrCpLJ1XAw&t=113s
Green, David B. “Why Did Adolf Hitler Hate the Jews?” Haaretz.com, Haaretz Com, 24 Apr.
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Killed Her Decades before He Became a Monster.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 20 Apr.
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www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/04/20/hitlers-mother-was-only-theperson-he-genuinely-loved-breast-cancer-killed-her-decades-before-he-became-amonster/?utm_term=.9d5ff0e77570.