Communism, Fascism, and Democracy: The Theoretical Foundations

by Carl Cohen

This highly regarded reader is intended for courses in political philosophy, political ideologies, political theory, and comparative political systems in both Philosophy and Political Science departments. It remains unsurpassed in the breadth and depth of its coverage, and in its exceptionally clear and provocative presentation of the theoretical foundations of communism, fascism, and democracy. This third edition has been updated to reflect the changing reality of the fall of Communism as a functioning political system, and has been reorganized to better illuminate central philosophical foundations of democracy.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Sociology, Essays, Political Science, Economics

512 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1972

About the author

Carl Cohen (April 30, 1931 – August 26, 2023) was an American philosopher. He was Professor of Philosophy at the Residential College of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Reviews

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back when I originally wrote this review (just about a year ago now) I had seen the following blog post (http://weeklysift.com/2015/11/30/the-...) which concerns fascism in America. Now, preparing for the inauguration of our new President, I thought that it might be useful to post it again. Be assured, I'm not calling names here. As is argued in the blog, the term "fascist" might be too diffuse to apply very well to any sort of politician. That's for any reader of this book to decide I guess. A bit more about this later.



”Fascism” is the Italian name for the twentieth-century manifestation of certain trends in political philosophy that are probably as old as politics itself. The distinguishing features of recent fascism have not been the profundity of its thought or the novelty of its elements, but the flair and efficiency with which these elements have been united, and the extreme lengths to which its doctrines have been carried.

I read major parts of this book a year or two after getting my BS, when I took a course in which it was used. So that was almost fifty years ago, but nothing has changed in the readings that Carl Cohen selected to bring out the “theoretical foundations” of these political “forms”.




Carl Cohen (1931- )
Residential College of the University of Michigan. Professor of Philosophy, who has written extensively in the areas of moral philosophy, and twentieth century political philosophy.

In his Introduction, Cohen writes

In this century, these philosophical commitments [concerning the nature of the person and the state] have crystallized chiefly into three well-developed theories of community organization … the political philosophies of communism, fascism, democracy … the world has been largely divided among them, and so significant are the consequences of this division that the study of these political forms is among the most important we could undertake.

The book (which was reprinted in a new edition in 1997 by McGraw Hill – now OOP I believe, but readily available used) is a collection of basic writings which Cohen assembled to allow the reader to study the philosophical underpinnings of these three forms as exemplified in the modern state.

One of the forms, Communism (as opposed to State Socialism), has become somewhat passé nowadays. Of course Democracy is alive (maybe) and (at least ostensibly) well (well, in some places perhaps).

It is the third, Fascism, that we hear much of today – usually as a dirty word (as it should be) thrown at political opponents. The blog piece above, by Doug Muder, argues that Fascism is something that few people are able to define. He references in the article a couple who have tried, but seems to accept the prevailing opinion that fascism is so diffuse a concept that it cannot be studied as a political system. And, Muder argues, the very people in America who throw the epithet at their opponents most frequently, are in fact the same people who are dipping into and fanning the fascist coals that are glowing in the U.S.

Cohen says similar things about the difficulty of defining fascism in his book, but nevertheless has assembled a fascinating lineup of source material that allows a reader to study the subject for him- or herself. (Note that Sections IV and V below pull in the “definition by example” which Muder refers to.)

So having said this by way of introduction, I’ll just show (most of) the detailed table of contents for the Fascism sections of the book. Each of the numbered section, and the various readings within them, have some introductory material by Cohen, then the original material for study.

Part II Fascism

Section I Absolutism
32. from Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
33. from Jean Bodin, Six Books of the Commonwealth
34. from Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

Section II Organicism
35. from Georg W.F. Hegel, The Philosophy of Law
36. from Johann G. Fichte, Addresses to the German Nation
37. from Heinrich von Treitschke, Politics

Section III Irrationalism
38. from Georges Sorel: Letter to Daniel Halevy
39. from Houston S. Chamberlain, Foundations of the Nineteenth Century

Section IV Fascist Philosophy in Italy
40. from Alfredo Rocco, The Political Doctrine of Fascism
41. from Benito Mussolini, The Doctrine of Fascism
42. from Giovanni Gentile, The Philosophical Basis of Fascism
43. from Mario Palmieri, The Philosophy of Fascism
44. from The National Fascist Party and the Charter of Labor
45. from The Fascist Decalogue

Section V Fascist Philosophy in Germany
46. from Hermann Goering, Germany Reborn
47. from Alfred Rosenberg, The Myth of the Twentieth Century
48. from Ernst R. Huber, Constitutional Law of the Greater German Reich
49 from Adolf Hitler: Selected Speeches

Each of the numbered items contains one or more selected readings. Here's the list of readings for one of the items having the most.

43. Mario Palmieri, The Philosophy of Fascism
- Fascism and the Meaning of Life
- Fascism and the Conduct of Life
- Fascism and Liberty
- The Fascist State
- The Corporative Idea
- The Legacy of Rome
- The Hero as Leader

Anyone interested in contemporary Fascism would be well-served by taking a look at these readings. They occupy about 120 pages in Cohen’s book.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Previous review: Six Armies in Normandy
Next review: The Pebble Chance wonderful book
Older review: The Lost Cellos of Lev Aronson

Previous library review: To the Finland Station A Study in the Writing and Acting of History
Next library review: Organic Marxism An alternative to capitalism and ecological catastrophe

[Lucas Sipe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of primary source documents, Cohen does an admirable job bringing a focus to the main core and tenants of the three political systems. We get to read excerpts from the major philosophical works of Communism, Fascism, and Democracy in a rather quick manner (I think the longest section was only 20ish pages.) There is a lot of variety of authors with little bias from Cohen in the selection.

As one would expect, the Communism section is dominated by Marx and Engles. We do get a hefty amount of other thinkers, however, but all operate in the shadow of the true founders. Fascism is the only political philosophy I was unfamiliar with philosophically so the excerpts there were the most interesting. Fascism, above all else, rejects a system, rejects a method, and instead rejoices in action and purpose. Because of that, there is little connecting fascism in Italy to fascism in Germany in my view. What connects them is the rejection of liberalism; they have decent critiques (centered around an obsession with the current and little regard for the present and future) and a hatred of communism. But beyond that, to speak of a system of fascism is not possible. Various thinkers admit this, Mussolini explicitly. As the shortest lived of these systems, the section on fascism was smaller than the other two.

So while I found a lot of good in this collection it remains only a collection. Cohen certainly spent a lot of time putting it together and his short introductions were generally helpful but it's not some great work. From a general perspective it's good but one would likely be better served reading the material properly speaking. Much can be said about these systems and while I have a better idea of what each calls for the unstated premises and rich thought of the works are left on the cutting room floor.

[J. Keck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this at university during one particular course on political science (excellent professor). The relevance of this book remains: many people--especially politicians--bandy about the terms fascism, communism, and democracy without an understanding of these political ideologies. When the terms are used carelessly they confuse and deceive. One might honestly question of the purpose of the speaker or writer.

[Samson Blackwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough overview of the dominant political philosophies of the 20th century; great for a first look.