Political Religion: An Intellectual History of Eric Voegelin and Defense of His Thesis on Political Religion and Nazism

Author

Stephen Gaines, University of New Orleans, New OrleansFollow

Date of Award

5-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Program

History

Department

History

Major Professor

Eric Bischoff

Abstract

This thesis is an intellectual history of Eric Voegelin and the concept of “political religion”. Eric Voegelin was a German-Austrian political scientist whose work surrounding the field of political science has made him one of the most influential thinkers of the 20^th century. Voegelin saw the rise of Nazi Germany in 1932 and fled Austria during Anschluss in 1938 to escape Nazi persecution, coming to the United States. During this time, Voegelin published, The Political Religions (Die Politischen Religionen) in which he describes National Socialism as a “political religion”. This thesis will delve into the conceptualization of the term, how other scholars viewed Nazism as a political religion, and why Nazism is a political religion.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

Recommended Citation

Gaines, Stephen, "Political Religion: An Intellectual History of Eric Voegelin and Defense of His Thesis on Political Religion and Nazism" (2023). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 3092.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/3092