We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode Hannah Arendt on evil: what can we learn from her today? - with Marci Shore

Hannah Arendt on evil: what can we learn from her today? - with Marci Shore

2025/6/20
logo of podcast Explaining Ukraine

Explaining Ukraine
AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
M
Marci Shore
V
Volodymyr Yermolenko
Topics
Volodymyr Yermolenko: 我认为汉娜·阿伦特对于理解20世纪和21世纪至关重要。她的概念，如激进的邪恶和平庸的邪恶，帮助我们理解极权主义以及个人在其中的角色。激进的邪恶在于使人变得多余，而平庸的邪恶则体现在那些不思考、盲目服从命令的执行者身上。重要的是要将这两个概念联系起来，理解邪恶是如何在工业规模上实施的，以及个人如何在这种体制中丧失责任感。我认为，仅仅将邪恶视为平庸是不够的，我们还需要理解邪恶的诱惑力以及它如何利用虚无主义和可替代性的概念。 Marci Shore: 我非常认同汉娜·阿伦特的重要性，尤其是在历史创伤时期。她帮助我们思考道德沦丧的条件以及邪恶何以可能。她对极权主义的分析，特别是关于主体性被抹杀的观点，非常深刻。我认为，阿伦特对纳粹主义和斯大林主义的现象学分析，以及她对艾希曼的描述，都旨在揭示邪恶的本质。重要的是要理解，邪恶不仅仅是平庸的，它也可能与施虐、虚无主义以及对他人生命的漠视有关。我们必须将每个人都视为目的，而不是手段，尊重每个人的尊严，才能抵御邪恶的侵蚀。我认为，缺乏思考是邪恶的根源，我们必须始终保持批判性思维。

Deep Dive

Chapters
This chapter introduces Hannah Arendt and her concept of evil, particularly its relevance in understanding current global conflicts and the nature of evil in our relativistic age. The discussion sets the stage for exploring Arendt's key ideas, particularly 'radical evil' and the 'banality of evil,' within the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
  • Hannah Arendt's concept of evil remains relevant in our time.
  • The chapter introduces the concept of 'radical evil' and its connection to making people superfluous.

Shownotes Transcript

Some might argue that the concept of evil is outdated in our relativistic age. And yet—how can we speak of war crimes, cruelty, or the neglect of human dignity without invoking the word evil? Perhaps it’s time to take it seriously again, to revisit the thinkers who have grappled with its meaning.

One of them, of course, is Hannah Arendt.

This is a conversation about Hannah Arendt and the concept of evil, which took place in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, on June 1st, at the Kyiv Book Arsenal—one of the country’s major literary events. Despite the ongoing war, the fair was full of people.

My guest was Marci Shore, an American intellectual, historian, and university professor. She specializes in 20th-century European intellectual history, with a particular focus on Hannah Arendt. This year, Marci co-curated the Kyiv Book Arsenal’s focus topic, alongside Oksana Forostyna.

My name is Volodymyr Yermolenko. I’m a Ukrainian philosopher, the editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and the president of PEN Ukraine.

UkraineWorld is an English language media outlet about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine, one of the country’s leading media NGOs.

You can support our work at https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld

Your support is vital, as we increasingly rely on crowdfunding. Even a small monthly donation can make a big difference.

You can also help fund our regular volunteer trips to Ukraine’s front-line areas, where we provide aid to both soldiers and civilians—mainly by delivering vehicles for the military and books for local communities. To support these efforts, you can donate via PayPal at [email protected].

Contents:

00:00 Intro 01:18 Support our work 04:44 Why is Hannah Arendt essential to understanding the 20th and 21st centuries? 06:16 What is Hannah Arendt's concept of 'radical evil'? 07:48 How are people made superfluous? 10:12 How has World War II shaped Arendt’s thought? 17:17 From “radical evil” to the “banality of evil”: connecting Arendt’s key concepts. 26:34 Marci Shore on the current situation in America 30:46 Thoughts on human dignity 32:14 Is the idea that 'everyone is replaceable' starting to repeat itself? 34:49 Why Sartre’s idea of “nothingness” might be dangerous? 42:14 Hannah Arendt: vita activa versus vita contemplativa 50:15 Outro