The lecture is based on the notion „banality of evil“, coined by Hannah Arendt in her famous report on the trial of the high-rank SS officer, Adolf Eichmann. The first part presents Eichmann’s career in the Nazi Germany, as well as his role in the implementation of the Wannsee Conference resolutions on the destruction of European Jews, for which he was sentenced to death in Jerusalem (1962). The second part offers a brief profile of Hannah Arendt, born in a family of Jewish origin, also as the author of The Origins of Totalitarianism. The background of her interest in the trial was therefore both personal and theoretical. The third part presents the concept „banality of evil“ which has ever since induced severe controversies. Finally, all the audience are invited to take part in an open discussion.
Lecturer: Attila Pató, Ph.D., Centre of Ethics, University of Pardubice
When: Monday 4 March at 17:00 in conference room (5th floor).
Price: 60/30 CZK. Tickets here.