Fabric of Thoughts: Philosophy/ Political Ideas

From an early age, even before WW II, Primo Levi was very interested in Philosophy. He was attracted to it because he has a very logical and dynamic approach to life in general, like most scientists do. The most common theme I saw throughout Primo Levi's writing were how he related to those idea of Descartes. He especially like to study and think about what the Cartesian theory had to offer. A play on philosophy that I noticed that Primo Levi uses is in the title of his book If This Is a Man. This is obviously a play on the philosophical question what is a man? Protagoras would answer that "man is the measure of all things", but in his book, Primo Levi works through his thoughts about experiences of his sufferings in the Nazi concentration camps and comes up with his own conclusion on what is a man.

As far as politics are concerned, we know that Primo Levi was most defiantly not a fascists. He even apart of the anti-fascists movement, before his capture and sentence to the death camps. We know that Primo Levi was not a coward. He took a stand and put into action what he believed, instead of just trying to lay low and escape imprisonment. Primo Levi believed that,
“In order for the wheel to turn, for life to be lived, impurities are needed, and the impurities of impurities in the soil, too, as is known, if it is to be fertile. Dissension, diversity, the grain of salt and mustard are needed: Fascism does not want them, forbids them, and that's why you're not a Fascist; it wants everybody to be the same, and you are not. But immaculate virtue does not exist either, or if it exists it is detestable.”

Of course, he does not think that the Jewish people are "detestable", however with the thinking that caused WW II, the Jews were "detestable" and "an inferior race". Like states earlier, Levi does not personally believe this, but he is giving a defense for the Jews to people who believe that Jews are, "an inferior race". Another powerful quote that I found of Primo Levi's thoughts was that, "Monsters exist, but they are too few in numbers to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are…the functionaries ready to believe and act without asking questions."