The American Mind
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55% Informative
Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Study in the Banality of Evil is a study in the banality of evil.
The idea that evil is banal has become a virtual cliché in the decades since the work was published.
But there are very serious grounds for rejecting the thesis, even in Eichman's own case.
Evil is often exhilarating and exciting, writes Julian Zelizer.
Freud knew that human beings are not at root rational; we are creatures of desire.
Fascism and Nazism were attractive to its people with the unspoken promise that they would bring with them a sexual power and allure that the banal, non-descript citizen lacked in himself.
The attraction of Nazism was precisely its apparent guarantee of non-banality.
VR Score
58
Informative language
55
Neutral language
36
Article tone
informal
Language
English
Language complexity
53
Offensive language
likely offensive
Hate speech
not hateful
Attention-grabbing headline
not detected
Known propaganda techniques
detected
Time-value
long-living
External references
2
Source diversity
2