Traditional conceptions of evil focus on the utter monstrosity of evil actions⏤the complete awe and unthinkability of horror.

惡的傳統概念，都集中在邪惡作為的獸性上，也就是絕對的敬畏與意想不到的恐怖。

Called pure or radical evil⏤this is the sort of evil associated with antagonists or villains⏤it is the antithesis of good.

這種與敵對勢力或惡人相關，而我們稱之為純粹或根本的惡，往往是善的對立面。

For Hannah Arendt, a German-Jewish philosopher, evil is not always as simple as an overriding desire to do no good.

但對漢娜．鄂蘭，一位猶太裔德國籍的哲學家來說，惡並不是一股完全不想為善的衝動那麼簡單。

Rather, Arendt chooses to focus her discussion of evil on this man: Adolf Eichmann.

相反地，鄂蘭決定將她的討論焦點放在這個這個男人的邪惡上，他就是阿道夫．愛希曼。

Put on trial for numerous horrors, Eichmann was found guilty of crimes against humanity

艾希曼因無數項令人髮指且悖逆人性的罪名而受審，

⏤especially against the Jewish people, for overseeing the trains that transported people to Nazi death camps.

尤其是針對猶太人，因為他負責監督那些將猶太人送到納粹死亡集中營的火車。

On May 31, 1962 he was hanged.

在 1962 年的 5月 31日，他被吊死。

Arendt traveled to Jerusalem to cover the Eichmann trial.

鄂蘭到耶路撒冷來報導艾希曼的審判。

She expected to encounter a cold calculating monster, a man who reveled in his malicious deeds.

她預期見到一個冷血且工於心計的怪獸，一個沉迷在自己邪惡罪行中的男人。

Instead, what she found was something far more shocking.

豈料，她見到的遠超出她的預期。

Eichmann was an altogether innocuous and seemingly normal little man⏤in some sense, he was a cliché, a stereotypical bureaucrat,

艾希曼是一個完全無害而且看似平凡矮小的男人。某個程度上來說，他是一個不值一提的標準官僚，

a sort of sleepwalker in life⏤a person who refused to comprehend the weight of his crimes.

一個生命中的夢遊者，一個拒絕理解自己罪行嚴重性的人。

Eichmann wasn’t afflicted with an overriding sense of maliciousness⏤instead, what Arendt found was a man that was thoughtless,

艾希曼並未因絕對的惡性而困擾；相反地，鄂蘭看見的是一個無知的人，

that never stopped to put himself in someone else’s shoes, that refused to think from another’s perspective.

一個不曾從他人的角度看事情，也不願意從他人的觀點來思考的人。

She found someone with an unquestioning sense of obligation to authority

她發現一個絕對服從權威的人，

⏤who all his life he had been a follower⏤a person eager to fit in and be led⏤

他一輩子都是一個跟隨者，一個非常願意適應並且被領導的人，

he suffered from blind allegiance and a complete self-deception about the morality of his actions.

他因盲從而受難，並且對自己行為的道德性進行徹底的自我欺瞞。

This made Arendt rethink the concept of evil⏤for Eichmann wasn’t a demon in any obvious way.

這讓鄂蘭重新思考惡的概念，因為艾希曼不管從任何角度來看，都不是一個惡魔。

What she encountered was the banality of evil⏤an everyday sort of evil: a bureaucrat eager to do his job.

她面臨到的是一種日常的惡，也就是「邪惡的平庸性」，而這只不過是一個官僚迫切的想完成他的工作。

One who lacked empathy or perspective.

一個缺乏同理心與遠見的人。

You don't need to be cruel, sadistic, or vicious to embody evil⏤

你並不需要很殘忍、有虐待性格，或是品行惡毒才能為惡，

all that a person has to do is blindly follow the orders of another person.

所有一個人需要的，只是盲目的遵從他人的指示。

For Arendt that is the banality of evil.

鄂蘭認為，這就是邪惡的平庸性。

So, dear viewer, what can be done to save humanity from mindless obedience?

那麼，我們親愛的觀賞者，我們能做些什麼來避免人性落入無知的服從呢？