The Path to Mass Evil : Hannah Arendt and Totalitarianism Today

On the Southern border of the United States in 2018, the decision was made to implement a separation policy among refugees and migrant families arriving at the border – and so a group of government employees left their homes, bidding farewell to their families as they went to work, and began to separate hundreds of children from their families, forcefully taking them to holding centres. Developing Hannah Arendt’s analysis of the banality of evil, __The Path to Mass Evil__ demonstrates how the most educated, sophisticated and advanced societies in human history have the potential to descend into profound inhumanity and in the extreme can turn into enormous killing machines, implementing mass murder on a vast scale. Suitable for undergraduates and graduates in philosophy, sociology, psychology and religion, Michael Hardiman reveals how traditional understandings of morality fail to grasp how ordinary citizens become collaborators and engage in a range of levels of evildoing. He also highlights the necessity of confronting this evil in the increasingly divided and antagonistic world in which we find ourselves today. The Path to Mass Evil reveals how traditional understandings of morality fail to grasp how ordinary citizens become collaborators and engage in a range of levels of evildoing, and in turn the necessity of confronting this evil in the increasingly divided and antagonistic world we find ourselves in today. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgements 9 1. Philosophical Approaches to the Problem of Evil: An Historical Overview 12 2. The Banality of Evil 30 3. Banality and the Masses 58 4. Ideology, Totalitarianism and Mass Evil 90 5. Pernicious Ideologies 105 6. Totalising Ideology and Religion 133 7. The Fusion of Ideology with Banality 162 8. The Murderous Alphabet 189 9. Combating Mass Evil: Arendt’s Legacy Today 212 Index 238 Problem of Evil; Banality of Evil; Ideology,Totalitarianism and Mass Evil; Pernicious Ideologies; Totalising Ideology and Religion; Fusion of Ideology with Banality; Murderous Alphabet; Arendt’s Legacy Problem of Evil,Banality of Evil,Ideology,Totalitarianism and Mass Evil,Pernicious Ideologies,Totalising Ideology and Religion,Fusion of Ideology with Banality,Murderous Alphabet,Arendt’s Legacy "On the Southern border of the United States in 2018, the decision was made to implement a separation policy among refugees and migrant families arriving at the border -- and so a group of government employees left their homes, bidding farewell to their families as they went to work, and began to separate hundreds of children from their families, forcefully taking them to holding centres. Developing Hannah Arendt's analysis of the banality of evil, The Path to Mass Evil demonstrates how the most educated, sophisticated, and advanced societies in human history have the potential to turn into an enormous killing machine, implementing mass murder on a vast scale"-- Provided by publisher