Philosophy of Fascism

Course Number:	EDU 5710 S33
Instructor:	Eric Jacobsen, Ph.D.
Location:	Online.
Dates and Times:	Jan 07, 2026 – Feb 25, 2026. Wednesdays 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm with additional independent work.
Credits:	3 Graduate Credits
Tuition:	Set by and payable to the Vermont Center for Social Research

Course Description

Is this Fascism?

Upon finding refuge in America, several German-Jewish philosophers sought to understand the terms fascism, authoritarianism and totalitarianism. They focused on morality, participation and subjectivity rather than the figure of the dictator. They asked if this could happen in America. We will begin with a survey of contemporary debates and then read selections from Adorno/Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), Adorno, The Authoritarian Personality (1950), and Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). We will conclude with Benjamin’s Thesis on the Philosophy of History (1940)

Audience: Upper level BA Humanities students, Graduate politics and philosophy interests, teachers, nurses, mature continuing students.

Course Goals & Objectives

Course Goals:

We will read key texts from the mid-20th century research on the origins of totalitarianism, fascism and the authoritarian personality.
We will ask what of this work is still relevant and can help us understand situation which we find ourselves today?
We will apply concepts and theories of fascism from the 20th century to contemporary phenomena and examine any corresponding affinities or differences.

Course Objectives: Students will be able to:

identify common features of fascism in the 20th and 21st centuries.
develop a capacity to discuss the present political situation and to think about what can be done to change it.
gain an ability to read and discuss complex philosophical material without fear and intimidation, and challenge its premises.

Required Readings/Resources

Costs for required readings, if any, may not be included in the course tuition.

Special note regarding required readings:

This course is focused on the literature on fascism, authoritarianism and totalitarianism that was written largely by German-Jewish refugees in the USA in the 1940s and 1950s. The purpose of the course is to compare their insights to the events of our time. In this respect, much of the required readings was published in the period prior 2020.

However, the core reading, Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, originally published in 1951, was republished in an expanded version by the Library of America on April 22, 2025 (https://www.loa.org/books/the-origins-of-totalitarianism-expanded-edition/)

Siegfried Kracauer, “Exposé. Mass and Propaganda. An Inquiry into Fascist Propaganda,” Selected Writings on Media, Propaganda, and Political Communication. Columbia University Press, 2022, 49-55.

Evens, Richard J, “Why Trump isn’t a Fascist” The New Statesman, 1/13/2021.

Moyn, Samuel, “The Trouble With Comparisons” The New York Review of Books, 5/19/2020.

Toscano, Alberto, “The Long Shadow of Radical Fascism,” Boston Review, 10/28/2020.

For additional course information

Eric Jacobsen

(802) 433-4433

For additional registration information

This course requires registration with the Vermont Center for Social Research first using the Register Now link below.

Center for Schools Team

(802) 468-1325