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# How Hannah Arendt developed the concept of "the banality of evil"
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/show/american-masters/extras/hannah-arendt-developed-concept-of-the-banality-of-evil-during-the-eichmann-trials-jmc2hd/
- Published: 2025-06-13T17:30:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-26T16:34:09.000Z
- Description: Hannah Arendt came up with the concept of “the banality of evil” during the trial of Adolf Eichmann.
- Author: Cascade PBS Staff
- Tags: American Masters, #ZZZ_Show_528da9a2-8dd6-4ae8-885a-d59d89b91574, #geo-us, #v1.7, #ZZZ_Extra_9043c23d-2770-4e05-ad86-0ac12bc022af, #extra

Hannah Arendt came up with the concept of “the banality of evil” during her coverage of the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann. During the trial, Eichmann, one of the main organizers of the Holocaust, insisted that he was only obeying the law and following orders. Arendt said: “There’s simply the reluctance ever to imagine what the other person is experiencing. That is the banality of evil.”