eneral

sychology

Who were Eichmann and Calley and what was Hannah Arendt's hypothesis?

In 1961, Adolph Eichmann was kidnaped by Israeli agents in Argentina. He was taken to Jerusalem and placed on trial for "causing the killing of millions of Jews." Eichmann claimed that he was no monster. He was simply carrying out Hitler's orders to transport the Jews to their deaths.

Hannah Arendt, a social philosopher, covered the Eichmann trial. She found Eichmann to be an average bureaucrat with no particular criminal tendencies. She concluded, "in certain circumstances, the most ordinary decent person can become a criminal." Others, for instance Jacob Robinson, have strongly disagreed with her. Eichmann was hung for his crimes.

During the Vietnam War, a platoon of American soldiers rounded up the inhabitants of a village called My Lai. The villagers, mostly women, children, and old men, were shot to death. The leader of the platoon, Lt. William Calley, claimed that he was not to blame. He was following orders, which was his duty. A military court found Calley guilty and after a rather short sentence; he was released.

Prior to the My Lai killings, Lt. Calley did not show any pronounced criminal tendencies. He was a rather ordinary college student and an average officer. Today Calley is leading a respectable life as a civilian. Was Eichmann a monster and is Calley a monster? Or would the average person perform such criminal actions if placed in similar circumstances? Surely, this is an important question for social psychologists. Enter Stanley Milgram.
 
 

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