Arendt in Jerusalem. A Report on the Relevance of Responsibility

Abstract

The paper analyzes Hannah Arendt’s report of the trial in which Adolf Eichmann was condemned for his responsibility in the Shoah. From the observation of the phenomenon and the phenomenology of the “Eichmann case” two problems, above all, emerge requiring philosophical investigation of a specifically moral nature. These problems concern, on the one hand, the banality of evil and, on the other hand, the relevance of human responsibility. Finally, the paper develops the idea of responsibility even for what we are not directly responsible, and justifies the ethical character of this attitude.

Keywords

• arendt
• eichmann
• evil
• responsibility
• shoah