What is evil?
Does it exist on its own or are humans a precondition for it to be exercised?
Does radical evil exist? Can evil become banal?
These are some of the questions that were at the December 6 screening of “Hannah Arendt” at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University by the Civic Education Lecturers Association (CELA).
Hanna Arendt was a prominent political theorist of 20th century; she was Jewish and was forced to flee her birthplace of Hannover, Germany during World War II.
The film, directed by Margarethe von Trotta, described an episode of Arendt’s life where she went to Israel to attend the trial of Adolf Eichmann, who was accused of organizing deportations and extermination camps which resulted in the deaths of approximately six million Jews.
After the screening a discussion was held based on the film and Arend’t views on the trial and actions of Eichmann, where participants talked about the difficulty of maintaining individuality in a totalitarian regime. This screening is part of CELA’s goal to create discussion spaces for students on topics surrounding democracy and civic engagement through formal and informal gatherings. Similar activities are planned to be implemented at different regional universities as well.
