Responsibility And Judgement Hannah Arendt Summary

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Responsibility by definition is “the state or fact of being responsible or accountable for something within one’s power, control or management” (Dictionary.com.) In my opinion, the most important word in that definition, although they are just as critical, is accountable. When we are held accountable for our actions, we take or acknowledge a certain obligation and thus are able to correct our wrongdoing. If we are unable to take into account or admit our guilt, then how could we ever make peace with ourselves, will it ever end?
In her book “Responsibility and Judgment”, Hannah Arendt, addresses the illustrious holocaust. We’ve all heard, read, and seen on so many publications the graphic retelling of stories the unethical, the inhumane, and the sadistic treatment of the Jews and of all of the relentless pain and suffering they’ve endured. However, Arendt tells a very different story. It was not the treatment or of their misery that intrigued her; it was of the men who caused aforementioned agony and torment and their refusal to take …show more content…

To them they were simply going to work in the morning and had obligations that needed to be met. Just as you are I must meet our commitments, as did they. They were merely acting out of duty. I have a routine I follow each and every morning as do any woman (or man). I wake up, shower, prepare for work, and sit in traffic for an hour while listening to my favorite tunes, sip my coffee, while conceiving what I hope to accomplish that day, perhaps hope to complete that report my boss required before his 10am meeting. You know, that sort of thing. If my obligations are met, I earn my compensation by the end of the week. That is the standard and how I earn my wages. If I do not meet my obligations, then my wages are held. My other obligations are compromised – food, rent, shelter. My overall survival and livelihood stands in

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