Professional paper
The Feeling of Political Redundancy and the Evolution of Evil
Alen Sućeska
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
This article attempts at determining whether the feeling of political redundancy (apathy) in modern society is related to the phenomenon of evil which manifests itself in physical violence. The answer is sought through analysing Hanna Arendt, Franz Neumann and Erich Fromm’s works relevant for the subject. The phenomena of “radical evil” and “banality of evil”, which reached their peak during the totalitarian regimes of the 20th Century, are taken as the starting
point. The feeling of political redundancy (as an element of “radical evil”) and the ambivalence of modern identity, both characteristic of modern societies, are later incorporated into the analysis in order to reach consequent reactions which indicate the new phenomenon of “latent evil”. What are the roles and responsibilities of political systems and/or societies in this process? The answer is unambiguously clear: today, individuals are latently being made redundant; therefore, the evil and violence which emanate from that redundancy must also be latent.
Keywords
totalitarianism; radical evil; banality of evil; Hannah Arendt; political redundancy; escaping freedom (E. Fromm)
Hrčak ID:
64473
URI
Publication date:
15.6.2010.
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