The King’s Two Bodies and Two Bodies of Villain: Political and Philosophical Aspect of Hannah Arendt’s “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil”
Abstract
The substantial problem of Hannah Arendt’s “Eichmann in Jerusalem: a Report on the Banality of Evil” lies in two controversial depictions of its main character, Adolph Eichmann. For the most part he looks like a mindless opportunist, whose servility results in death of millions. But Arendt’s portrayal of Eichmann significantly changes in view of his death sentence and execution. This alteration can be explained using the main idea of Ernst Kantorowicz’s “The King’s Two Bodies”: being a part of political body imposes internal changes on a person, and these changes become even more drastic during attempts to separate him from this body.
About the Author
Roman Gulyaev
National Research University 'Higher School of Economics'
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
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Review
For citations:
Gulyaev R. The King’s Two Bodies and Two Bodies of Villain: Political and Philosophical Aspect of Hannah Arendt’s “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil”. Russian Journal of Philosophical Sciences. 2017;(3):53-67. (In Russ.)
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