Eichmann's defense is powerful. As a screw in the national machine, he just obeyed the orders given by the leader and faithfully did what a screw should do. The will to kill comes from the leader, and the guilt should also be borne by the leader. Therefore, at least in terms of motivation, he is innocent.
Of course, the courts in Jerusalem would not accept his plea of innocence, and he was sentenced to death and was hanged swiftly after the final verdict was handed down. However, there are many questions to consider in this verdict, such as whether Eichmann was motivated by the choice of the film as the subject?
Arendt saw Eichmann as a very mediocre man, a feelingless, resigned bureaucrat who never realized what he was doing. He is the poster child for "banal evil".
After Arendt's book was published, a strong public reaction was aroused. Jews accused her of accusing "victims", and many researchers objected. They listed anti-Semitic remarks in Eichmann's personal diary and tried to prove Eichmann. Is a fanatical anti-Semitic and murderous demon (Jews have already presupposed Eichmann as a demon out of national sentiment).
In fact, Arendt cannot be refuted by trying to argue that Eichmann had actual malicious intentions, and that "banal evil" does not refer to a specific individual, but to the general thinking habit of people. Thinking is too heavy, the responsibility is too difficult to bear, and resistance is meaningless. Simply isolate your conscience, give up resistance, and lie down completely. Only in this way can you live stubbornly. Who can endure being questioned and haunted by conscience all the time? The pain was endless.
Arendt was merely revealing the temptation that everyone would be subjected to. In her view, Eichmann was not anti-Semitic, but anti-human. Thought is the noblest thing a man possesses, yet man often gives it away. Arendt's colleagues criticized her for being arrogant, intelligent but emotionless, and indeed, she was arrogant. With the freedom of thinking comes the burden of thinking. Ordinary people can't bear this burden. Their demands should also be respected.
Would Arendt be better understood if he had been born in ancient Greece? After all, this is a nation that can appreciate Achilles.
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