Hannah Arendt & The Banality of Evil

KarenMalone Says:

Jul 31, 2010 - Who is that woman? Plainly an academic of some sort. Interesting to hear commentary on Arendt's views. It's a shame the director did not give the interviewee more direction in terms of not moving about so much: that really does make the documentary look rushed.

tsaich Says:

Sep 10, 2010 - I think she is Susan Neiman, an American philosopher currently in Germany.

URInTheVillage Says:

Sep 28, 2010 - This is Susan Neiman, author of "Evil in Modern Thought."

Enerkhan Says:

Oct 25, 2010 - The world is workable = the very basis of the Buddhist path for the last couple of thousand years...I write this not to diminish what Arendt writes or what this woman says, just to confirm it. The buddhists even make the workability of transcending the 'evil' in us the basis and fuel of the path to liberation (as defined by them as a state of 'consciousness' of sorts)...

ChadCMulligan1 Says:

Dec 28, 2010 - Pollyanna Philosophy...whether it comes from Hannah Arendt as wishful thinking, or from this person as ersatz "truth." Evil is NOT comprehensible, and if the 20th century taught us anything, it was that humankind are spontaneously capable of the most monstrous deeds, even in the heart of our most "civilized" cultures. In that respect, I note not only Germany, Ireland, and the Balkans, but the Levant, Nanking, Japan, and Russia--with more to come. This woman's claim is merely wishful thinking.

kellkell1995 Says:

Feb 1, 2011 - stupid english class assignment!

zodiacchiller Says:

Feb 12, 2011 - "Arendt said, look, evil is comprehensible.." WHAT?

PeterRoeder31 Says:

Jul 6, 2011 - It´s not a flaw in the universe. It´s a flaw in us. It has very little to do with the universe which is infinite and eternal.

JesusConvictScorpion Says:

Aug 14, 2011 - but the question remains...what's behind that "spontaneity"?

ChadCMulligan1 Says:

Aug 14, 2011 - JCS. Yes, that's the vital question...from whence erupts humankind's apparently built-in urge to perpetrate evil on massive scale?

PlatoJaspers Says:

Nov 29, 2011 - Hi Chad, the fact that we learned evil is something are 'spontaneously capbale of' in the 20th century, does that point towards some kind of comprehensibility of evil in human beings? Is evil really totally incomprehensible to you?

PlatoJaspers Says:

Nov 29, 2011 - PS: Maybe the Milgram experiment could tell us something about the urge to perpetrate evil?

ChadCMulligan1 Says:

Nov 29, 2011 - PJ, I don't understand your comment or your questions. You ask whether evil is really totally incomprehensible to me...when I emphatically stated that in my initial post...so I'm not sure that you're reading the posts carefully enough.Neiman is clearly disturbed that there might be no explanation for evil, leaving a "black hole," a "fatal flaw," in the universe. I understand her disquiet, but don't find any evidence or support for inventing an explanation that doesn't exist.

PlatoJaspers Says:

Nov 30, 2011 - Hi Chad, Hannah Arendt seems to make evil comprehensible in certain aspects and so does the Milgram-experiment. So I don't understand how one could state evil is totally incomprehensible.

Igotangry Says:

Dec 7, 2011 - I read hannah arendt. nor todays dumb jews nor todays dumb armenians do not understand hannah arendt and even in examples like "lawrence of arabia armenians are impossible" rewiev they go much to ignorance and stupidity to think they are glorifying them in their speeches, books. hannah arednt in banality of evil told- like armenian terrorist tehlerian israelis&jews used eichmann trail as a propoganda of the land they steal and state they founded like pirates.

Igotangry Says:

Dec 7, 2011 - nor the death of Talat Pasha killed by an armenian terrorist called sogomon tehlerian and nor the eichmann had been judged about so-called crimes with evidences. and without evidences, law courts had been joke courts a material for armenian and jewish terrorists black propoganda place for their lunatic pirate states. when armenian terrorist was taken to law court and when eichmann had been taken to law court when he was kidnapped by israeli jewish terrorists, the aim was not to judge them.

Igotangry Says:

Dec 7, 2011 - the aim was to approve their pirate states to other people in west by making lunatic judgements, law courts. I bet if hannah arendt was alive today she would have write a book about idiot armenian jewish lunatics/sharlatans under the title "banality of evil: indifference of jewish/armenians life in real world/hollywood-some faggots live their entire life like they are in a hollywood movie-they are good at fabricating stories/lying"

Igotangry Says:

Dec 7, 2011 - in book the place she accused eichmann as being a banal man is in reality only a few lines in the book. the whole book she underlines her suspects about jewish leaders were in contact with nazi officials to carry jews to palestine. she questions why other jews did not do anything about so-called evil things, why jewish leaders lead them to germans as could seen in schindlers list movie.

sofiayearwood Says:

Dec 14, 2011 - Excellent

PlatoJaspers Says:

Dec 25, 2011 - Merely stating evil is not comprehensible, does not make this statement true. If people offer you possible explanations, you can't discard them just by saying 'it's not true', which is the same as calling it 'pollyanna philosophy'. I havent' seen any serious reason from you why evil would be that incomprehensible.

PlatoJaspers Says:

Dec 25, 2011 - Yes, she did.

Daryo1988 Says:

Apr 6, 2012 - It's just an introduction to Hannah Arendts the banality of evil. So read that book if you want the arguments.

PlatoJaspers Says:

May 27, 2012 - I was answering Chad.

PlatoJaspers Says:

May 27, 2012 - PS: Can you give me any arguments for your idea that evil is incomprehensible? Instead of referring to somebody's book? It's important that we can actually think for ourselves, not just repeat what others tell us. ;)