Language:
English
Year of publication:
1988
Titel der Quelle:
Judaism; a Journal of Jewish Life & Thought
Angaben zur Quelle:
37,3 (1988) 264-275
Keywords:
Arendt, Hannah,
Abstract:
The ideas of Hannah Arendt reflect the cultural, religious, ideological, and psychological ambivalence of German Jewry since the Emancipation. Thus, her discussion of the new form taken by evil in the 20th century is characterized by irony and ambiguity. Arendt's description of Eichmann as "banal" was understood to mean that his actions had been commonplace, or typically human. However, she intended to present Eichmann's banality as mechanical thoughtlessness, a refusal to recognize the consequences and significance of his actions. This view tends to diminish his responsibility for his evil actions (although, inconsistently, Arendt still argued that he had to be punished). In "The Origins of Totalitarianism" (1951), Arendt described a form of government which called for the extinction of man as an individual and his subordination to a principle which is intrinsically evil. Evil is seen by her as political rather than moral.
Note:
Appeared also in "Hannah Arendt; Critical Essays", 1994.
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
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