The Banality of Evil: Hannah Arendt and 'The Final Solution'

by Bernard J. Bergen

This highly original book is the first to explore the political and philosophical consequences of Hannah Arendt's concept of 'the banality of evil,' a term she used to describe Adolph Eichmann, architect of the Nazi 'final solution.' According to Bernard J. Bergen, the questions that preoccupied Arendt were the meaning and significance of the Nazi genocide to our modern times. As Bergen describes Arendt's struggle to understand 'the banality of evil,' he shows how Arendt redefined the meaning of our most treasured political concepts and principles_freedom, society, identity, truth, equality, and reason_in light of the horrific events of the Holocaust. Arendt concluded that the banality of evil results from the failure of human beings to fully experience our common human characteristics_thought, will, and judgment_and that the exercise and expression of these attributes is the only chance we have to prevent a recurrence of the kind of terrible evil perpetrated by the Nazis.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, History, Holocaust, Education, Politics, World War II

208 pages, Hardcover

First published August 6, 1998

Reviews

[Kelly Nezat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very important book to begin understanding how evil can blossom in the face of everyday life and everyday folks.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is happening again, boys and girls.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chilling...that we never understand evil well enough to be able to recognize it and stop it before it occurs. Chilling...that the type of evil that occurred with the totalitarianism of the Nazis lives and breathes in every human being. Chilling...that we quash open discussion because we are afraid, risking the withering of critical thinking, which leads back to exactly what we all fear most. This is a philosophical deep dive into theories about the evil that spawned the Nazis and the Final Solution. Heavy reading. From about the middle of the book, I felt like it began rambling away from the hypothesis in the effort to provide context. It would always come back and ultimately get tied back in. Well-evidenced study and strong approach.

[Paul Ataua · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is presented as an exploration of Anna Arendt’s concept of ‘the banality of evil’. After years of just thinking I knew what the concept meant, I started to feel I didn’t really get the theoretical underpinnings of it and felt Arendt herself doesn’t clearly present the theory behind the idea or satisfactorily get to the bottom of her idea of a lack of thinking (my feeling). I always have the feeling the is a deeper level of explanation that has not been provided. The book, while meandering somewhat, does provide food for thought, but still left me unsatisfied. Worth a read, maybe!

[Thomas Bolen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book can be a bit slow and it also requires a ton of focus. It gets pretty in depth about philosophy and ethics in some parts but it’s still an interesting book. The concept of the banality of evil is something that sticks with you. Normal people who just go along with evil for selfish reasons are as worse as the murderous dictators that orchestrate atrocities… or are they?

[Yolanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s definitely not a book for everyone or for reading at the beach. Unfortunately, I had to stop several times, and each time I had to start over because it’s easy to lose track. It’s a little gem of philosophy.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does collective evil shelter the responsibility of individual guilt legally

[Ryan Johnson]

I'd like to be more "Into" history, this book gave some interesting glimpses into how someone is handled for the atrocities they committed. I should have read the book straight through instead of hear and there, I think I lost a bit doing so.

Evil is as Evil does.