Episode #136 - Hannah Arendt - The Banality of Evil
Hannah Arendt - The Banality of Evil
This episode explores the political philosophy of Hannah Arendt, focusing on her critique of modernity’s retreat from the public realm and its consequences for identity, meaning, and power. Drawing a line from Plato’s turn inward after Socrates’ death to the Enlightenment’s elevation of economics over politics, the episode traces how Arendt challenges the dominance of the “contemplative life” in Western philosophy. She contrasts this with the “active life” of Socrates and Aristotle, where true identity and meaning emerge through public action and political engagement. Dividing human life into Labor, Work, and Action, Arendt argues that modern societies have reduced people to laborers and workers, stripping them of the political voice needed to shape their world. This alienation, she suggests, creates the conditions for totalitarianism, as seen in her analysis of Adolf Eichmann and the “banality of evil.” The episode ultimately positions Arendt’s work as a call to reclaim the political realm as essential to our humanity and warns of the dangers of passive disengagement in the face of rising authoritarianism.
Further Reading:
The Human Condition – Hannah Arendt (1958)
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil – Hannah Arendt (1963)
On Revolution – Hannah Arendt (1963)
See the full transcript here.
Thank you to everyone who makes this podcast a possibility in the future.
I could never do this without your support! :)