Before the Law: the poetics of justice in Hannah Arendt's 'Eichmann in Jerusalem'

The author reflects on Hannah Arendt's report on the Eichmann trial, indicating that Arendt had hoped the courts had 'dared' to reach a judgement that circumvented the traditional path. Arendt, although agreeing with the final judgement of the courts, argued that evil is not necessarily calculated, but banal, and referrred to the writings of Kafka to explain that justice needed to be carried out to prevent the continuation of totalitarianism, rather than for vengeance.