The Banality of Evil: Hannah Arendt and 'The Final Solution'

This highly original book is the first to explore the political and philosophical consequences of Hannah Arendt's concept of _the banality of evil,_ a term she used to describe Adolph Eichmann, architect of the Nazi _final solution._ According to Bernard J. Bergen, the questions that preoccupied Arendt were the meaning and significance of the Nazi genocide to our modern times. As Bergen describes Arendt's struggle to understand _the banality of evil,_ he shows how Arendt redefined the meaning of our most treasured political concepts and principlesfreedom, society, identity, truth, equality, and reasonin light of the horrific events of the Holocaust.