Robert Malone on Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil"

The concept of the “banality of evil” was introduced by Hannah Arendt in her 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.  Arendt, a German-American philosopher and political theorist, was tasked with reporting on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a former Nazi official responsible for the logistics of the Holocaust.

Arendt’s thesis was that Eichmann, who was considered a “normal” and “boring” individual, was not a fanatic or a sociopath, but rather an average and mundane person who relied on clichéd defenses rather than thinking for himself.  He was motivated by professional promotion rather than ideology, and believed in success, which he considered the chief standard of “good society.”

Arendt argued that Eichmann’s actions were not driven by a desire for evil, but rather by a kind of complacency and thoughtlessness.  He was able to commit atrocities because he was not driven by a strong sense of morality or a desire to do good or evil, but rather by a desire to fit in and be successful.

~ Robert Malone, "Assassination and the Banality of Evil," July 16, 2024

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