Hannah Arendt Of "the Banality Of Evil" Research

Hannah Arendt,a Jew who lived through the terrible World War II,spent her whole life reflecting on the sins of the world.In her early The Origins of Totalitarianism,she began to explain the idea of "the radical or absolute evil",to think that evil,like good,has identity,and to keep questioning the root causes of evil.Later,during her visit to Jerusalem for Eichmann trial,she propose the controversial concept of "the banality of evil" out of shock,pointing out that Nazis who committed major crimes like Eichmann are merely "thoughtless" men with superficial and hollow motives,and thus commit heinous crimes.The essence of "the banality of evil" is that "no-thinking of evil",is a relic persecution under totalitarianism,and the gradual closure of public realm in the society since ancient Greece,which reflects her worries about people's activities in the post-totalitarian era.First,by analyzing the western view of "evil" and the proposal of "the radical or absoluteevil",we can know that the thought of "the radical or absolute evil" comes from Arendt's TheOrigins of Totalitarianism.It has such a consensus on the theory of human nature thattranscends the tradition of western philosophy that human nature contains the hope for good,but its essence is still a "rational" basis,that is,"malicious rationality".This kind of basisoften becomes a kind of rationalization thing in the end and rationalize the emergence of "thebanality of evil" a theoretical necessity which reflects the relationship between "the radical orabsolute evil”and" the banality of evil "that the former inheriting and developing the latter.Through the proposal of" the banality of evil ",this paper analyzes the relationship between" the radical or absolute evil "and" the banality of evil”that the two are intrinsically related,and the former provides a supplement to the latter.What's more,the experiments of Milgramand Stanford further explained the connotation of "the banality of evil".Therefore,we cansee that the absence of human thought and the lack of judgment lead to the appearance of "thebanality of evil".Then,through the analysis of Arendt's philosophical thought,we try to find out thepossibility of preventing"the banality of evil"and we can draw the conclusion that the key toimplement judgment into action is"gemeinsinn”and“public realm”and only free action canultimately maintain the"plural character"of human beings by argumentation,thinking andjudgment.Finally,through the analysis of the criticism of modernity in "the banality of evil",wecan know that in big data's time,we should show individual thinking and independentjudgment,do not copy others to avoid "the banality of evil".Arendt spent her life talkingabout "the banality of evil",but it is a pity that the person has never given the final answer,but still deserves our respect for she shows us the direction of thinking.This spirit ofjudgment spans times and races.In our society there has never been a lack of servitude;whatis lacking is those people who chase the sun even in caves.