Banality of Evil
Encyclopedia
Banality of evil is a phrase coined by Hannah Arendt
and incorporated in the title of her 1963 work Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
. It describes the thesis that the great evil
s in history
generally, and the Holocaust
in particular, were not executed by fanatic
s or sociopaths
, but rather by ordinary people who accepted the premises of their state
and therefore participated with the view that their actions were normal
.
Explaining this phenomenon, Edward S. Herman
has emphasized the importance of "normalizing the unthinkable." According to him, "doing terrible things in an organized and systematic way rests on 'normalization.' This is the process whereby ugly, degrading, murderous, and unspeakable acts become routine and are accepted as 'the way things are done.'"
and Haslam
have challenged Arendt's idea of the banality of evil. They agree that ordinary people can commit evil actions, but they assert that it is not simply a matter of “blind people following orders.” They point to historical and psychological evidence that suggest that ordinary people become evil when they identify with evil ideology.
They cite Cesarani
's Eichmann: His Life and Crimes, as “suggesting that Arendt’s analysis was, at best, naive.” In his work, Cesarani claims Arendt only attended the beginning of Eichmann’s trial and missed the defendant’s more revealing admissions. The author recalls that Eichmann spoke proudly of the creative measures with which he executed Hitler’s policy. To Cesarani, this was indicative of an active involvement in evil, not just a passive following of orders.
Reicher and Haslam have also reinterpreted the findings of a number of landmark psychological cases, including Milgram
's obedience studies
and Zimbardo
's Stanford prison experiment
to conclude that people follow ideology, not just orders. They have proposed a number of factors that can be used to explain how people become swayed by evil ideology. These factors include:
Reicher and Haslam admit these are just some of the factors involved and that more research needs to be done. In part, they blame the popularity of Arendt’s banality of evil for handcuffing research for so long.
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
and incorporated in the title of her 1963 work Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
Eichmann in Jerusalem
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil is a book written by political theorist Hannah Arendt, originally published in 1963...
. It describes the thesis that the great evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
s in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
generally, and the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
in particular, were not executed by fanatic
Fanaticism
Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby...
s or sociopaths
Antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
, but rather by ordinary people who accepted the premises of their state
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
and therefore participated with the view that their actions were normal
Normality (behavior)
In behavior, normal refers to a lack of significant deviation from the average. The phrase "not normal" is often applied in a negative sense Abnormality varies greatly in how pleasant or unpleasant this is for other people.The Oxford English Dictionary defines "normal" as "conforming to a standard"...
.
Explaining this phenomenon, Edward S. Herman
Edward S. Herman
Edward S. Herman is an American economist and media analyst with a specialty in corporate and regulatory issues as well as political economy and the media. He is Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also teaches at Annenberg School for...
has emphasized the importance of "normalizing the unthinkable." According to him, "doing terrible things in an organized and systematic way rests on 'normalization.' This is the process whereby ugly, degrading, murderous, and unspeakable acts become routine and are accepted as 'the way things are done.'"
Criticism
ReicherSteve Reicher
Stephen D Reicher is Professor of Social Psychology and former Head of the School of Psychology at the University of St Andrews....
and Haslam
Alex Haslam
S. Alexander Haslam is a Professor of Social Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Exeter. He was born in Horsforth , and educated at Felsted School....
have challenged Arendt's idea of the banality of evil. They agree that ordinary people can commit evil actions, but they assert that it is not simply a matter of “blind people following orders.” They point to historical and psychological evidence that suggest that ordinary people become evil when they identify with evil ideology.
They cite Cesarani
David Cesarani
David Cesarani OBE is an English historian who specialises in Jewish history, especially the Holocaust. He has also written several biographies, notably Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind.-Early life:...
's Eichmann: His Life and Crimes, as “suggesting that Arendt’s analysis was, at best, naive.” In his work, Cesarani claims Arendt only attended the beginning of Eichmann’s trial and missed the defendant’s more revealing admissions. The author recalls that Eichmann spoke proudly of the creative measures with which he executed Hitler’s policy. To Cesarani, this was indicative of an active involvement in evil, not just a passive following of orders.
Reicher and Haslam have also reinterpreted the findings of a number of landmark psychological cases, including Milgram
Stanley Milgram
Stanley Milgram was an American social psychologist most notable for his controversial study known as the Milgram Experiment. The study was conducted in the 1960s during Milgram's professorship at Yale...
's obedience studies
Milgram experiment
The Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures was a series of notable social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that...
and Zimbardo
Philip Zimbardo
Philip George Zimbardo is an American psychologist and a professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is president of the Heroic Imagination Project...
's Stanford prison experiment
Stanford prison experiment
The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted from August 14th-20th, 1971, by a team of researchers led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University...
to conclude that people follow ideology, not just orders. They have proposed a number of factors that can be used to explain how people become swayed by evil ideology. These factors include:
- individual differences (not everyone will choose to commit evil)
- crisis or group failures (people are most vulnerable under a crisis or when a social group they belong to falls apart)
- leadership (people require a strong leader to encourage them to commit evil).
Reicher and Haslam admit these are just some of the factors involved and that more research needs to be done. In part, they blame the popularity of Arendt’s banality of evil for handcuffing research for so long.
External links
- http://books.google.com/books?id=3gUAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=Lisa+Peattie+Normalizing+the+unthinkable&source=bl&ots=zvf--LwP-V&sig=og691hBj490FYxe1cJpy2rsYhNc&hl=en&ei=rKl7TbXKIM3NsgbZ4qDsBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Lisa%20Peattie%20Normalizing%20the%20unthinkable&f=falseLisa Peattie "Normalizing the unthinkable," Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, March 1984, pp. 32-36.]