Hannah Arendt and Eichmann
anecdote · book: Eichmann in Jerusalem ·
retold in 4 talks
Žižek argues Arendt’s 'banality of evil' is a correct theory based on a wrong example, as Eichmann was actually a fanatic, not a mere bureaucrat.
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026
As told 4
“Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem. It's a beautiful theory, the banality of evil... just it's not true for Eichmann.”37:52 Slavoj Zizek: The Relationship between Mental Processes and Digital Devices2021-09-11 · 1:20:47
“what horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders.”50:11 Slavoj Žižek Masterclass: Jacques Lacan: A Lateral Introduction. Part 8pub. 2018-11-29 · 2:11:18
“when somebody in the debate stood up and said, 'But what you just said reminds me of Hannah Arendt,' it means you are finished.”
What it carries
one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)
contents · one story, 3 jobsuses
myth of direct transparency
×1
moral twist / distortion
×1
ethical temptation
×1
Its cast and sources
populated by
Jakob Ammann1Colonel Francis Younghusband1Roger Ebert1Danny Burns1Lynn1Augustus1François Ewald1Anarchy (Personified)1
alongside works
Every retelling 4
37:52 Slavoj Zizek: The Relationship between Mental Processes and Digital Devices2021-09-11 · 1:20:47
Žižek argues Arendt’s 'banality of evil' is a correct theory based on a wrong example, as Eichmann was actually a fanatic, not a mere bureaucrat., illustrating myth of direct transparency
50:11 Slavoj Žižek Masterclass: Jacques Lacan: A Lateral Introduction. Part 8pub. 2018-11-29 · 2:11:18
Nazi executioners justified their acts by framing them as a 'heavy burden' of duty, resisting the 'temptation' of pity, thus turning their violation of ethical instincts into proof of their ethical grandeur., illustrating moral twist / distortion,ethical temptation
Twenty-five years ago, having your argument compared to Hannah Arendt was a conversation-ender; today she is almost untouchable even for those (like Kristeva or Bernstein) who should theoretically oppose her., illustrating unwritten rules,academia,big Other
Using Arendt’s analysis, Žižek contrasts the 'human' obscenity and empirical evil of the SA (street fighters) with the 'inhuman' cold executioner style of the SS, arguing the latter (Vance) is more terrifying., illustrating fascism-populism,ideology