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The Banality of Evil

Evil can be perpetrated only by moral actors

 

 

The claim “Evil can be perpetrated only by moral actors” rests on the distinction between natural events or behaviors (like disease, earthquakes, or animals killing other animals), which may cause suffering but are not evil, and Moral evil, which arises from the free and responsible choices of moral agents. like human beings.

We have discussed definitions of Evil elsewhere so we won’t go over it all again here. All we will say now is that Evil is a real thing, not just the absence of Good.

Defining a Moral Actor

 

A moral actor (or “moral agent”) is an entity that:

  • possesses rationality — the ability to reflect, reason, and anticipate consequences.

  • Has free will (or sufficient autonomy) — can make choices not wholly dictated by instinct or coercion.

  • Understands moral norms — has awareness of right and wrong, whether through conscience, reason, or cultural learning.

  • Is accountable — can be held responsible for its actions in a moral community.


Humans (generally) fit this description; young children, animals, or machines usually do not, though philosophers debate the gray zones.

Why Not Other Lifeforms?

 

Take the example of  a pack of wild dogs seemingly killing “for entertainment.” Ethologists argue that play-killing or “surplus killing” in animals is driven by evolutionary instinct (practicing hunting, stimulating prey drive) rather than a reflective choice about right or wrong. Dogs don’t possess a moral framework—they cannot reason, “This is unjust; I shouldn’t do this.” They simply act according to drives.

 

We don’t hold animals morally responsible; we might restrain or eliminate dangerous ones, but that’s prudential, not moral judgment. Their behavior may look “cruel” from a human lens, but it is not evil in the philosophical sense because it lacks the reflective, intentional choice to do wrong when knowing better.

 

Edge Cases

  • Children & diminished capacity: Very young children may cause harm knowingly, but they’re not usually held fully accountable until they’ve developed sufficient rational/moral capacity.

  • Sociopaths/psychopaths: If someone lacks the capacity to recognize moral rules, can they truly be called a moral actor? This is still debated in moral psychology and law.

  • AI systems: Current debates ask whether advanced AI or Machine Learning could ever become moral actors. It’s an interesting question, which can be quickly dismissed. The moral agent creating the machine is the moral agent creating its potential Evil. More succinctly, it is the BANALITY of the moral agent that is the proximate cause. 

Hannah Arendt’s “Banality of Evil”

Hannah Arendt’s idea of the “banality of evil” is one of the most provocative concepts in 20th-century moral philosophy and political theory. It comes from her 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, which was based on her reporting of Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Israel.

 

Adolf Eichmann was a Nazi bureaucrat who played a major logistical role in the Holocaust, organizing the deportation of Jews to concentration camps. At his trial (1961–1962), many expected Eichmann to be a monstrous, sadistic figure. Arendt instead found him to be disturbingly ordinary, a mediocre, unimaginative man who insisted he was “just following orders” and advancing his career. This observation lead Arendt to the conclusion that Evil does not always come from demonic hatred or radical wickedness. Sometimes it arises from ordinary, thoughtless people who conform, obey, and fail to critically reflect on what they are doing. Eichmann showed no deep ideological fanaticism or sadistic impulses. Instead, he embodied banal, bureaucratic obedience, committing atrocities without questioning their moral meaning. The danger lies in the absence of thinking: when individuals abandon personal judgment, they can become cogs in a system that commits vast evil.

Philosophical Implications

  • Moral responsibility: Even if someone claims to be “just following orders,” Arendt insists they are still morally responsible for their choices.

  • Evil as thoughtlessness: Evil may not always require malicious intent; it can stem from shallowness, the inability or refusal to engage in critical moral reflection.

  • Warning for modernity: In modern bureaucratic and technological societies, where tasks are fragmented and people work within hierarchical systems, it becomes easier for ordinary individuals to perpetrate or enable evil without recognizing it as such.

Criticism

 

Arendt didn’t  imply that evil itself is trivial or insignificant, only that the people who commit it can be disturbingly ordinary and superficial. Some critics argue that she underestimated Eichmann’s antisemitism or ideological commitment. Later archival research suggested he was actually more committed to Nazi ideology than Arendt believed. Nevertheless, her broader insight, that ordinary people, by refusing to think, can become agents of evil, remains influential in ethics, psychology, and political philosophy.

Thoughtless Actions and Systems that needlessly Destroy Life

 

 

BANALITY

EVIL

Routine use of pesticides and herbicides in industrial farmingCollapse of pollinator populations and unraveling of ecosystems
Everyday use and disposal of plasticsPlastic pollution killing marine organisms and disrupting ocean life cycles
Clearing forests for cattle grazing, soy, and palm oilDestruction of ecosystems, extinction of species, and loss of biodiversity
Industrial-scale fishing and routine consumer demandCollapse of fish stocks, coral reef destruction, mass death of marine life
Adding antibiotics to livestock feed for efficiencySpread of resistant bacteria, undermining ecosystems and human health
Fishing practices that produce “by-catch”Millions of dolphins, turtles, and seabirds killed as waste annually
Routine urban and commercial light pollutionCollapse of nocturnal insect populations and disorientation of wildlife
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