Pre-Modernity, Totalitarianism and the Non-Banality of Evil

Download or read book Pre-Modernity, Totalitarianism and the Non-Banality of Evil written by Steven Saxonberg and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-23 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comparative and historical analysis of totalitarianism and considers why Spain became totalitarian during its inquisition but not France; and why Germany became totalitarian during the previous century, but not Sweden. The author pushes the concept of totalitarianism back into the pre-modern period and challenges Hannah Arendt’s notion of the banality of evil. Instead, he presents an alternative framework that can explain why some states become totalitarian and why they induce people to commit evil acts.