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Le «deux-en-un» : les racines platoniciennes de la «banalité du mal»

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2019

MARIE-JOSÉE LAVALLÉE*
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal / Université de Sherbrooke

Abstract

Le concept de banalité du mal, proposé par Hannah Arendt pour décrire le profil psychologique du criminel nazi dans Eichmann in Jerusalem, est intimement lié à ses lectures de Platon. Pour aborder la question du mal, elle a découvert des appuis chez Kant, mais le problème de la culpabilité sous le régime nazi renvoie ultimement au défaut de penser. Le deux-en-un, concept qui décrit la pensée, a été défini sur la base de l’œuvre platonicienne. L’examen de ces sources philosophiques permet de mieux comprendre les possibilités et les limites de la réflexion arendtienne sur le mal.

The concept of the “banality of evil,” put forward by Hannah Arendt to describe the psychological profile of the Nazi criminal in Eichmann in Jerusalem, is intimately tied to her reading of Plato. In Arendt’s examination of the question of evil, she found some support in Kant’s philosophy. However, the problem of guilt under Nazism ultimately goes back to an inability to think. The two-in-one, a concept which describes the activity of thinking, is based on Plato’s dialogues. An examination of these philosophical sources contributes to the understanding of the possibilities and the limits of Arendt’s reflection on evil.

Type
Original Article/Article original
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2019 

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