Hannah Arendt Total Domination Summary
Total Domination Analysis
Hannah Arendt wrote “Total Domination” as the Nazi regime began their apparatus of terror and destruction. As a motive of terror, Hitler removed specific races, the mentally impaired, and other attributes that weren’t suited for him and put them in concentration camps. He not only eliminated the human species but also history was lost as well. In “Total Domination” Arendt correctly explains totalitarian rule through acts of terror, losing individuality, and leaving ones humanity and self-judgment,
In a totalitarian rule, Arendt proceeds by not viewing genocide as a condition. However, what she does argue is that totalitarian does not only try to eliminate physical life but rather “total terror.” Total terror can be defined as abolishing certain rights, property, and the deportation and murder of an entire race or community. In …show more content…
She adds, “totalitarian domination attempts to achieve this goal through ideological indoctrination of the elite formations…” (282). The term elite formation is referring to the SS men and the camp guards in the concentration camps. The SS guards would make them believe that they were superior over everyone else in the camps. By doing so, they lack a conscious and all moral standings about wiping out a group of people and making it seem as if they were doing it for preserving their own species. During the excerpt, Arendt wrote a phrase that states, “intrinsically incredible” (284). This holds a strong meaning itself when intersecting the idea of the loss of humanity. She means that in general it is unbelievable for a person to preserve a species yet the guards can rationalize it away concluding that it is true. This mentality can be seen in people enlisted in the army, marines, navy and so forth. Not all, but many people loss their conscious in order to smoothly execute their orders by their
Hannah Arendt wrote “Total Domination” as the Nazi regime began their apparatus of terror and destruction. As a motive of terror, Hitler removed specific races, the mentally impaired, and other attributes that weren’t suited for him and put them in concentration camps. He not only eliminated the human species but also history was lost as well. In “Total Domination” Arendt correctly explains totalitarian rule through acts of terror, losing individuality, and leaving ones humanity and self-judgment,
In a totalitarian rule, Arendt proceeds by not viewing genocide as a condition. However, what she does argue is that totalitarian does not only try to eliminate physical life but rather “total terror.” Total terror can be defined as abolishing certain rights, property, and the deportation and murder of an entire race or community. In …show more content…
She adds, “totalitarian domination attempts to achieve this goal through ideological indoctrination of the elite formations…” (282). The term elite formation is referring to the SS men and the camp guards in the concentration camps. The SS guards would make them believe that they were superior over everyone else in the camps. By doing so, they lack a conscious and all moral standings about wiping out a group of people and making it seem as if they were doing it for preserving their own species. During the excerpt, Arendt wrote a phrase that states, “intrinsically incredible” (284). This holds a strong meaning itself when intersecting the idea of the loss of humanity. She means that in general it is unbelievable for a person to preserve a species yet the guards can rationalize it away concluding that it is true. This mentality can be seen in people enlisted in the army, marines, navy and so forth. Not all, but many people loss their conscious in order to smoothly execute their orders by their