Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
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InClassAssignment3Eichmann.docxSP2020 PHR 102 In-Class Assignment #3 Name: ___________________
In groups of 2–3 people (i.e. with the people sitting next to you) please consider and discuss the following questions. While you will discuss these in groups, each person will be responsible for writing and turning in his or her own work.
Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
1. What is Arendt’s concept of the “banality of evil” and how did it apply to Eichmann?
2. Do you think Eichmann’s trial was about justice, revenge, or both? Why or why not?
3. What is Kant’s first formulation of the categorical imperative? According to Arendt, how was Eichmann not following Kant’s categorical imperative? What was the distorted categorical imperative Eichmann followed instead?
4. Is the defense of “I was just following orders” or “I was just doing my job” release someone from the personal moral responsibility for their actions? Why or why not?
