Research On Hannah Arendt’s Thought Of "the Banality Of Evil"

Hannah Arendt is a well-known philosopher and politician in the 20 th century.Her research field focuses on the phenomenon of "banal evil" under totalitarianism and the resulting modernity dilemma.Her view of evil is unique in Western political thought.Under the rule of totalitarian terror,people become superfluous,distorting human nature and committing incomprehensible extreme evils such as the Holocaust,that is,"fundamental evil." Since Arendt went to Jerusalem to observe the trial of Nazi war criminal Eichmann,his view of evil has changed from "fundamental evil" to "banal evil".She believes that the root cause of Eichmann’s heinous crime is "no thinking",that is,lack of thinking leads to the banality of evil.The latter fixes the logic defect of the former.Arendt’s understanding of evil shifted from the perspective of political system to thinking about human nature.The proposal of "Mediocre Evil" has a specific era background and profound theoretical origins.The rise of totalitarianism and the culture of anti-Semitism,Kant’s reflective judgment and Heidegger’s existentialist philosophy have had a profound influence on the formation of her thoughts.In the process of the logical development and core construction of "Mediocre Evil",Arendt’s perspective of observing evil has changed.She explored the characteristics of banal evil from the perspective of phenomenology,conducted a related analysis of the performance of evil in bureaucracy and social movements,and began to think about the elimination of the "banal evil" by the individual’s responsibility in the collective.From the spiritual level of thinking,will,judgment and action level to retrieve moral responsibility,and active life gives the answer,which aims to awaken the sense of human responsibility.The banal evil still exists in modern society.Individuals who do not think blindly in cyber violence hide in the group,and improper guidance can cause social conflicts at any time.The study of "banal evil" is very helpful for people to think about human nature in modern society.Although Arendt’s thought of "banal evil" has certain limitations,the way of dispelling it is too ideal.However,in the modern society where the social public sphere is constantly expanding,it is still of great significance to the construction of our harmonious society and a society under the rule of law.