![]() Under normal conditions, murder is criminal under the Third Reich, refusing to commit murder was a criminal violation of the law. The Nazi regime inverted the usual notions of criminality and wrongdoing, in the sense that criminal acts became normal and normal acts criminal. Arendt demonstrates that conscience is not a reliable basis for morality because it often hinges on ideas received from those that surround an individual-in Eichmann’s case, from his Nazi superiors-and suggests that totalitarianism functions precisely by setting entirely new rules for what counts as commendable and criminal behavior. ![]() This is because his superiors’ authority and approval structured this conscience instead of relying on personal moral conviction, he placed absolute faith in his country’s leader. Arendt argues that, paradoxically, Eichmann (like other seemingly “normal” Germans) facilitated genocide because, rather than in spite, of his conscience. ![]()
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