To the Editors: Seyla Benhabib’s assertion that Hannah Arendt’s concept of “the banality of evil” was handed down to her by her husband, Heinrich Blücher, merits correction [“Thinking Without Banisters,” NYR, February 24, 2022]. The source for this misconception is a letter from Arendt’s teacher and friend the philosopher Karl Jaspers on December 13, 1963. […]
Source : The Origins of ‘Banality’
