Saturday, May 06, 2023

This is just hilarious.

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Sereny makes me laugh. She has a good hard understanding of the world. 
Q: This phrase the banality of evil, is that what you're talking about?
A: Ah.. I suppose so. I really dislike that um... sentence. You know, evil is a huge word. Actually there was nothing evil about Stangl.

Arendt's use of "banality" isn't the problem; it's the here use of the word "evil" Arendt could never stop being a philosopher. That was always her weakness. Sereny doesn't need to pretend. 

Earlier, laughing, putting her hand to her chest:"Remembering Stangl and to think of him as being fundamental is always funny." An empty suit, but the suit was a uniform. Deep down he's shallow. Her aristocratic contempt.

Watching Sereny I thought of Stengneth, and my own contempt grew even stronger. Sereny seconds Arendt in a way that Stangneth could never counter. Post-war German Zionism continues pre-war German anti-Semitism, a transition without a break.

Sereny was a journalist and Harris was a lawyer. Empiricism over rationalism

Sereny's description of Speer and Hitler would probably offend a lot of people if they paid attention. 


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