Lecture-Hannah Ardent, Totalitarionism

In lecture we were told about WWII, the communist movement that took place at this time and Hannah Ardent.

The communist movement wouldn't work without slave labour so to do this they must fighten the people. They set up death camps around the villages and sent people in as though it was normal, to be killed. They either burnt them in a room or gassed them whichever was more convenient for them. There was a secret speech by Khrusev's who discussed Stalinism, Marxism and western intellectuals. He said that Stalinism wasn't communist enough for the party, he believed that he needed to take control of the people more, to make sure that they don't get their own ideas or thoughts.

Hannah Ardent was a philosopher during the war and after she wrote also whilst the war was on saying it was too horrible to write about. She believed in freedom of speech that everyone should think for themselves. She believed that everyone had their own mind and shouldn't just fall into place and let other people tell them what to do. 'Think don't just obey' were her famous words. She believed that everyone was responsible for the war and what took place because people didn't think about what they were doing. Eichman a train driver who took the prisoners to the camps, she believed he was guilty or murder because he just obeyed his orders and didn't think about where he was taking them. She believed this of everyone even from the cooks who fed the officers. She wanted people to see how wrong it was just to let somebody else run our life.

Phenomonolgy- 'Why is there something and not nothing' this expression means that before people think about a set of ideas they must think the ideas are and what makes them. This phrase could interpret what kind of philosopher Hannah was, she believed in fully thinking through your ideas, seeing what they are what they mean before doing something.