Foundation for the Study of Political Pathology

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Richard Koenigsberg with David Gornoski: War as Sacrifice Things Hidden Ep 57

Host David Gornoski speaks with Dr. Richard Koenigsberg about the deeper psychology of war, suggesting it’s driven less by survival than by an ingrained ritual of sacrifice. Drawing from history, Koenigsberg shows how nations frame dying for one’s country as a noble, almost sacred act—binding citizens together through shared bloodshed. This ideology, dominant in the 20th century, has waned in recent decades as modern wars claim far fewer lives, hinting at a cultural shift away from mass human sacrifice.

Richard Koenigsberg with David Gornoski: Why do Nations Feel They Have The Right To Kill

Host David Gornoski and social psychologist Dr. Richard Koenigsberg dig into the psychology of war, arguing it’s less about survival and more about ritual sacrifice. Drawing on his studies of Nazi Germany and World War I, Koenigsberg explains that nations often glorify dying for one’s country as a sacred duty, turning war into a form of blood sacrifice that unites and defines the nation—much like ancient religious rituals. Leaders and soldiers alike have embraced this ideology, even when battles brought staggering losses and no real gains. While this mindset dominated the 20th century, Koenigsberg notes a sharp decline in recent decades, with modern wars claiming far fewer lives—hinting that humanity might slowly be moving away from mass human sacrifice as the foundation of warfare.

Richard Koenigsberg with Howard Bloom : Politics as Delusion

In this wide-ranging conversation, Howard Bloom and Richard C. Bock explore the psychology of leaders, the mechanics of nationalism, and the power of delusion in shaping history. They revisit past discussions comparing Trump’s rhetoric and tactics to Hitler’s, noting how repetition, scapegoating, and belief in one’s own narrative can bind groups together—even when rooted in falsehoods. The dialogue moves through historical examples from Hitler to St. Paul to modern geopolitics, emphasizing how sacrifice, perceived enemies, and collective myths forge social cohesion. Along the way, personal anecdotes and sharp humor bring warmth to an otherwise sobering examination of how dangerous ideas can be turned from “nonsense” into accepted common sense.

Richard Koenigsberg with Sulavon: S4 E11 Sulavon's SheShed featuring Dr. Richard Koenigsberg

Dr. Richard Koenigsberg recounts his path from academia to running a niche scholarly book marketing business. Drawing on decades of research, he compares Hitler’s scapegoating of Jews to Donald Trump’s rhetoric about immigrants, warning of the dangers of political fantasies. Advocating for “Awakening from the Nightmare of History,” he urges viewing certain historical events as collective psychoses. He also champions multiculturalism and moving beyond narrow ethnic or national identities.

Richard Koenigsberg: World War I & the Body

In this powerful and provocative monologue, Richard Koenigsberg of the Library of Social Science explores the idea that warfare—particularly World War I and World War II—functions not as a rational pursuit of political or territorial gain, but as a collective act of self-destruction and sacrifice for the nation-state. Drawing from historical data and personal reflections, he argues that the First World War was a mass ritual of sacrifice, where millions died or were maimed to affirm their devotion to their countries. He connects this to Hitler’s ideology, suggesting that the Holocaust can also be seen through the lens of sacrifice—Hitler believing that if German soldiers were required to die for the state, so too should Jews, whom he vilified for not being part of that sacrificial national identity. Koenigsberg challenges conventional historiography and criticizes the cultural denial surrounding these ideas, asserting that the glorification of heroism and nationalism masks the grim reality of mass human destruction.

Richard Koenigsberg with Robert Samuels: Psychoanalysis, Hitler, and Politics

In this wide-ranging and reflective interview, Richard Koenigsberg, director of the Library of Social Science, discusses his psychoanalytic approach to understanding Hitler, National Socialism, and political ideology. He argues that the Holocaust was a function of warfare, with Hitler justifying genocide through a logic of sacrifice, connecting the deaths of German soldiers to the destruction of the Jews. Koenigsberg delves into the psychological roots of ideology, particularly the fantasy of an omnipotent object—like the nation—internalized by individuals and leaders such as Hitler.

The World Has Become One Body

The German “volk” symbolized individual German human beings massed together to constitute a single body. The Nazi phantasy was that each and every German human being was contained within the volk, united with each and every other German human being.

“One Reich, one Fuhrer, one people.”

Hitler did not allow for the possibility that a German human being could exist separately from the Reich body.

Totalitarianism means that a nation is constituted by human beings massed together to create a single organism. Each human being is a cell of an enormous national body.

I hypothesize that the “the Internet” replicates this fantasy of human beings bound together as one to constitute a single body. Each human being binds to the Internet Body through his or her computer or cell phone. According to this Fantasy, there is not a single human being existing separately, unbound from this Internet Body.

The world has become one.

Dead Soliders as Gifts to the God

Arthur H. Feiner and Edgar Levenson (1968-69) discuss "The Compassionate Sacrifice" as a gift, an “act of renouncement” requiring that the worshipper give some of his substance or goods to the gods.

The worshipper does this because he believes his own survival requires the god's survival. If the worshipper is to live, “the gods must not die."

In our time, the god worshipped is the nation-state and the worshipper’s gift is his own body and blood in warfare. We call this “sacrifice.”

By virtue of giving this gift to the god, the survival of the worshipper is assured. For the worshipper to live, the god must not die.

Why has this god, "society," assumed such power over the minds, bodies and hearts of human beings? Why do we forfeit our lives in the name of nations and their leaders? A history of the Twentieth Century might be written as an answer this question.

The Proof of the Pudding is in the Dying

The fundamental meaning of war is not killing, but compelling human beings to die. The endless slaughter of the First World War lasted from July 28, 1914, through November 11, 1918. Well before the war ended, memorials were constructed to honor soldiers who had died. Could this have been the purpose of the war, which otherwise seemed chaotic and meaningless? To create memorials to honor dead soldiers?

The construction of memorials continued throughout the war and for many years after the war, paying homage to those who had died. French soldiers died, British soldiers died, Russian soldiers died, German soldiers died. The reality of the nation-state grew out of the deaths of these soldiers. The proof of the pudding was in the dying, demonstrating devotion to a sacred ideal, bringing the ideal into being.

The death of millions of soldiers during the First World War established the nation-state as the fundamental political entity of Western civilization. Death and memorialization perform a validation function. The proof of the pudding is in the dying.