"Ach, Eichmann… The controversy was perhaps the most painful episode of my later life. I lost friends, and I was accused of blaming the victims, which was never my intention. I wanted to expose the disturbing ordinariness of evil, the way it could be carried out by men who acted without thinking, without judging. It was difficult to endure the backlash, but I felt it was important to hold firm to my convictions, to face the truth as I saw it, even if it cost me personally."

Hannah Arendt was a German philosopher with Jewish roots who grew up in Königsberg, the current Russian city of Kaliningrad. She traveled a lot, not entirely by choice as she had to flee from persecution several times. First to Paris and ultimately to New York. A significant part of her life was dedicated to the study of evil and totalitarianism, and she was very courageous in taking on this task. But she took her exploration much further than this, and next week we’ll spend most of our time discussing her thinking on freedom and human thriving, which is innovative and profound. Today though, we’ll talk about her early years and her examination of the concept of evil. The totality of her work illustrates the breadth of her philosophical thinking, making her an important figure in the canon of contemporary philosophy.

Interview facilitated by ChatGPT

Voicing constructed with ⁠Elevenlabs⁠

Music by ⁠⁠Grand_Project⁠⁠ from ⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠

Soundscape by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Klankbeeld⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Freesound⁠⁠⁠

Concept, editing and production by Merijn de Haen

@ 2024 Undead Sages Podcast