Tristan Dineen

Moral Followership and Modern Tyranny: the Followers of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein Tristan Dineen

This thesis is an investigation of the role of morality in motivating the followers of 20th century tyrannies. Karl Popper argued that what interested him about modern tyrants was that they all possessed huge followings of dedicated followers who ascribed to the tyrant's ?moral message?. Like the dedicated followers of any cause they believed that what they were supporting was morally righteous. The focus of this study is the often neglected followers of two such 20th century tyrants ? Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein ? and why they came to view these ?evil? men as the righteous saviours of their respective peoples and lands. Concluding that in circumstances where a segment of the human race becomes estranged, in moral terms, from the rest of humanity, it becomes perfectly normal for people to commit evil against those deemed to be ?outsiders? in the name of good. Such alienated moral environments facilitate a moral faith in tyranny.