Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)

Banal means lacking in originality or boring. It is a fitting description of the Nazis’ imaginations behind the Holocaust. This crime against humanity was so hideous that international laws were created to try those culpable. Adolf Eichmann was among the planners of the “Final Solution” and fled to Argentina. The new state of Israel had to kidnap him in order to bring him to justice in Israeli courts. He never denied the charges against him and was eventually hanged as punishment. In this book, Hannah Arendt analyzes his trial to show how even an “enlightened” country like Germany could fall to such evil.

This report is not an exciting work. Though crimes and wars are often glamorized, she shows how utterly boring they are. She further demonstrates how an entire culture can fall prey to hideous evils through pride and an excuse that everybody’s doing it. When humans become only self-interested and driven only by self-promotion, we are capable of ignoring our consciences and our own humanity. In the modern world, individuals must learn to say, “no” and “never again,” instead of just passing the buck to the next person.

I appreciate this book’s insights about how Nazi Germany took shape. Before World War I, Germany was considered to have the leading culture in the world – educationally, ethically, scientifically, and artistically. Yet they fell prey to a nationalism that denied the humanity of those not of the “Aryan race,” whatever that means. If they can fall, anyone can fall.

This account, though heavy throughout, reminds me of the seriousness of national politics. It’s easy in a democracy to look upon our political class as entertainers, not leaders. Often, that entertainment leads to beating up on and “othering” someone else. This story shows how that mistake can happen even to the best and the brightest. It shows how only care and conscience can bring justice and love into the world.… (mer)

Dieses Buch gibt einen ersten Einblick in Hannah Arendts Denken und Schafften aus allen Perioden ihres Lebens mit kurzen Auszügen aus ihrem Werk. Natürlich suche ich mir die mich im Augenblick am meisten interessierenden Texte heraus: 'Zum politischem Denken u. Handeln' und 'Lebensgeschichten/Briefe'; zu anderen werde ich irgendwann auch noch kommen, denn ihre Schriften regen zum Denken und weiterem Erforschen der aufgeworfenen Fragen an!

Das erwähnte und faszinierende Interview von 1964 mit Günter Gaus ist ungekürzt jetzt auf YouTube zugänglich (deutsch mit engl. Untertiteln, 1:12:15): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVSRJC4KAiE&t=5s

Much has been written about "banality of evil", the phrase Hannah Arendt coined. Judith Butler gives a clear and concise summary here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/hannah-arendt-adolf-eichma...… (mer)