PANTHEON
ExploreBuild My Library
© 2026 Pantheon — an atlas of the ideas that shaped how we think.
book1963

Eichmann in Jerusalem

Summary

Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (1963) by Hannah Arendt is her report on the Eichmann trial, arguing that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was not a monster but a thoughtless bureaucrat—introducing the concept of the 'banality of evil.'

Core Contribution

Introduced the 'banality of evil' concept; one of the most important works on totalitarianism and the psychology of evil.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • banality of evil
  • Holocaust
  • Eichmann
  • totalitarianism

Historical Influences

Arendt's political philosophy

Intellectual Lineage

Hannah Arendt Holocaust scholarship

Allied Works

The Origins of Totalitarianism The Human Condition

Contemporaries & Peers

Arendt's other works

Minds Influenced

Holocaust scholarship political philosophy understanding of evil

Intellectual Posterity

No conceptual posterity found.

Discussing

Eichmann in Jerusalem

Ask anything about Eichmann in Jerusalem — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.

Sign in to start a conversation.