A tale of two judgments: Bonhoeffer and Arendt on evil, understanding, and limits, and the limits of understanding evil

Comprehension does not mean denying the outrageous, deducing the unprecedented from precedents, or explaining phenomena by such analogies and generalities that the impact of reality and the shock of experience are no longer felt. It means, rather, examining and bearing consciously the burden which our century has placed on us - neither denying its existence nor submitting meekly to its weight. Comprehension, in short, means the unpremeditated, attentive facing up to, and resisting of, reality - whatever it may be. (Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism) © 2000 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.