Philosophy of Fascism, Jacobson, Summer 2026

Course Number:	EDX 5710 S69
Instructor:	Eric Levi Jacobson, Ph.D.
Location:	Online
Dates and Times:	July 01 – Sep 02, 2026
Credits:	3 Graduate Credits
Tuition:	Set by and payable to educational partner Vermont Center for Social Research (VTSR)

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: Social Studies and History Teachers, Graduate politics and philosophy interests, mature continuing students. Must hold an earned bachelor’s degree.

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.

Course Schedule

Week 1: Introduction to the theories of fascism and contemporary debates
Thematic introduction to the theories and authors of the 1940s and 1950s. What is fascism and how does possibly relate to contemporary debates? We will review the scope of the course followed by individual introductions. Detailed review of the syllabus, course expectations, assessment, and literature review.

Core readings:

Evans, “Why Trump isn’t a Fascist”
Moyn, “The Trouble With Comparisons”
Toscano, “The Long Shadow of Radical Fascism”

Other resources:

Bessner and Greenberg “The Weimar Analogy”
Klion and Robin, “Almost the Complete Opposite of Fascism,”
Moyn “Allegations of Fascism Distract from the Real Danger”
Goodman, “Is Trump Fascist?”

Week 2: Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism (introduction)

Core readings:

Arendt, “Preface” to Volume I: Antisemitism, in Origins of Totalitarianism, pp. 3-9
Arendt, “Race-Thinking before Racism,” Volume II: Imperialism, in The Origins of Totalitarianism, pp, 210-241

Other resources:

Aschheim, “Nazism, Culture, and The Origins of Totalitarianism,” Ch. 11, In Times of Crisis
Bernstein, “Antisemitism as Political Ideology,” Ch. 2, Hannah Arendt and the Jewish Question

Week 3: Origins of Totalitarianism : fascism as a classless society

Core readings:

Arendt, “A Classless Society”, Vol. III: Chapter 1, in The Origins of Totalitarianism

Other resources:

Canovan, “Arendt’s theory of totalitarianism: a reassessment” in The Cambridge Companion to Hannah Arendt pp. 24-43.
Film: Hannah Arendt (2012)

Week 4: Origins of Totalitarianism : Movement, Mass and Participation

Core readings:

Arendt, “Ideology and Terror: A Novel Form of Government” Vol. III: Chapter 4 in The Origins of Totalitarianism

Other resources:

Arendt, “The Totalitarian Movement,” Vol. 3: Chapter 2, in The Origins of Totalitarianism
Stanley, “Is Totalitarianism a New Phenomenon? Reflections on Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism,”
Nisbet, “Arendt on Totalitarianism,” pp. 85-91

Week 5: Origins of Totalitarianism, resistance and personal responsibility under dictatorship

Core readings:

Arendt, “Personal Responsibility under Dictatorship” in Responsibility and Judgment, pp. 17-48.

Other resources:

Film: Hannah Arendt “Zur Person" im Gespräch mit Gunter Gaus

Week 6: The Authoritarian Personality

Core readings:

Adorno, “Introduction,” esp. pp. 1-12, “Politics and Economics in the Review Material”, Ch. 17, esp. pp. 658-702, and “Conclusion” Ch.23 in The Authoritarian Personality,

Other resources:

Abromeit “The Concept of Pseudo-Conservatism as a Link Between the Authoritarian Personality and Early Critical Theory,”
Gordon “The Authoritarian Personality Revisited: Reading Adorno in the age of Trump”

Week 7: Fascist Propaganda, Antisemitism, Racism

Core readings:

Adorno, “Anti-Semitism and Fascist Propaganda” in The Stars Down to Earth
Kracauer, “Exposé. Mass and Propaganda. An Inquiry into Fascist Propaganda”

Other resources:

Adorno, “Freudian Theory and the Pattern of Fascist Propaganda,” in The Essential Frankfurt School Reader
Horkheimer and Adorno, “Elements of Anti-Semitism: Limits of Enlightenment,” pp. 137-173.
Arendt, “Charlie Chaplin: The Suspect,” in The Jewish Writings, pp. 286-288.
Freud, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

Week 8: What is Resistance? On the Concept of History

Core readings:

Benjamin “On the Concept of History,”

Required Readings/Resources

Costs for required readings/resources, if any, are not included in cost of course.

Adorno, T.W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D.J., & Sanford, R.N. (1950). The authoritarian personality. Harper & Brothers.

Adorno, T.W. (1994) The stars down to earth and other essays on the irrational in culture (S. Crook, Ed.). Routledge.

Arendt, H. (2025). The origins of totalitarianism (Expanded ed.; J. Kohn & T. Wild, Eds.). Library of America. https://www.loa.org/books/the-origins-of-totalitarianism-expanded-edition/

Arendt, H. (2003). Responsibility and judgment (J. Kohn, Ed.). Schocken Books.

Benjamin, W. (2003). On the concept of history. In H. Eiland & M. W. Jennings (Eds.), Selected writings, volume 4: 1938–1940 (E. Jephcott et al., Trans.; pp. 389-400). Harvard University Press.

Evans, R.J. (2021, January 13). Why Trump isn’t a fascist. New Statesman. https://www.newstatesman.com/world/americas/north-america/us/2021/01/trump-fascist

Kracauer, S. (2022). 1 Exposé. Mass and Propaganda. An Inquiry Into Fascist Propaganda. In J. Abromeit, J. Kang, & G. Gilloch (Eds.), Selected Writings on Media, Propaganda, and Political Communication (pp. 49–55). Columbia University Press.

Moyn, S. (2020, May 19). The trouble with comparisons. The New York Review of Books. https://www.nybooks.com/online/2020/05/19/the-trouble-with-comparisons/

Toscano, A. (2020, October 28). The long shadow of radical fascism. Boston Review. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/long-shadow-racial-fascism/

For additional course information

Eric Levi Jacobson

(802) 433-4433

This course requires registration with the Vermont Center for Social Research (VTSR) first. Please click on the Register Now! button below.