Short answer assignment

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 notfollowing 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?