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Questioning the Banality of Evil


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#1 Guest_Ananke_*

Posted 26 January 2008 - 04:57 PM

"The Psychologist," the journal of the British Psychological Society, published an article detailing the recent research and finds expanding upon the idea of the 'banality of evil' - a re-examination of Hannah Arendt's assessment of Adolf Eichmann, and such classic experiments as Milgram's, or Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment:

Here is the beginning of the article:

Us and them
And, after all, we’re only ordinary men.
Me and you
God only knows it’s not what we would choose to do.

Pink Floyd, Us and Them

It is relatively rare that the ideas in psychology texts become so well known that they influence popular culture. However, as the above lyrics attest, one such idea maintains that if you put ordinary decent people in groups and create a division between ‘us’ and ‘them’ then they will descend mindlessly into brutality, to the extent that they might even be prepared to commit mass murder. And in a world where the brutality of groups is as apparent as ever, this idea continues to have widespread appeal.


I think that it's quite interesting... and judging from the topics in this very section, and some of the stories I've read in the Attic, I think some of you may also be interested... if you hadn't read it already, that is!

#2 Guest_Clight_*

Posted 26 January 2008 - 07:51 PM

Yes, interesting... I have trouble forming a single coherent picture of the argument right now, but insofar as I can figure it out, it kind of makes sense by my reasoning alone, even discounting the new ways of looking at the evidence.

This should be in the Water Cooler, I think. It's not a flammable topic by any stretch, since I don't think there's anyone here who feels fanatically about the banality of evil.

#3 Guest_Futurist_*

Posted 26 January 2008 - 08:59 PM

Very interesting, although I have to say that it is rather obvious that Eichmann for instance knew what he was doing all along as do all the other butchers both past and present.

#4 Guest_Ananke_*

Posted 27 January 2008 - 08:15 PM

This should be in the Water Cooler, I think. It's not a flammable topic by any stretch, since I don't think there's anyone here who feels fanatically about the banality of evil.


Well, I put it here because it's a rehash of older topics in this section...

And, yes, Futurist... I was actually a bit surprised when the article said that the notion of the 'banality of evil' entails people becoming blind to their actions. If feels much more sensible when they aren't blind... just thinking they are doing the right thing. For example, because everyone around is doing the same thing.

What I found the most interesting, though, is a minor thing, I think - the way it turns out that the people who took part in Zimbardo's experiment were not randomly selected, after all! I wonder if those people considered if, maybe, it's only now that the people who want to take part in prison experiments are only certain type of people - precisely because humanity has that one experiment behind itself?

Anyway. Just thought you might enjoy it!

#5 Guest_Lord E_*

Posted 28 January 2008 - 04:55 AM

I don't get a connection to the server :) Anyone would have a copy of the article?

As for the topic itself, I'm a believer in Arendt's and Fromm's idea of evil. Some scholars criticize Fromm for what they perceive an incorrect idea of an authoritarian personality type. But I think they miss the goal: Fromm doesn't mean it the way science currently talks about personality types.

#6 Guest_Ananke_*

Posted 05 February 2008 - 04:29 PM

It's back, if you're still interested.

#7 Guest_Satori_*

Posted 30 March 2008 - 06:45 AM

The old quote comes to mind: Evil will prevail so long as good men do nothing.

Humans are much more socially shaped then we like to believe. Guess our parents were on to something when they told us to be careful about our choice of friends, neh?




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