Arendt and Jaspers on Totalitarianism

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Hannah Arendt and Karl Jaspers' ideas on totalitarianism and discusses the nature of totalitarianism and its impact on society. The paper also discussses examples of totalitarian governments, particularly that of Germany. The paper then relates the power that these governments had with the views of Arendt and Jaspers. The paper contains extensive footnotes.

From the Paper:

"Within society, the statements that are made by the government authorities are true because they are the power among people, which gives them more control and the authority to define crime. By using this power, police can have upper hand on crime and criminals due to the fact that people become intimidated those who have a power over them. In other words, the law was made for the police and criminal justice to gain and maintain a power over society. When people believe there is a power that can restrain them, they have more self-control in order to avoid others who look down on them and embarrassment. Furthermore, the law was made to give society structure under the criminal justice system."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Criticism". 8 May 2008 www.answers.com
• Milstein, Brian. "On Michel Foucault's "Transcendental Claim": A Reply to Jurgen Habermas." Unpublished paper, New School for Social Research, New York 9 May 2008 http://magictheatre.panopticweb.com/aesthetics/writings/polth-foucault.html).
• DP (1977). Michel Foucault. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, translated by Alan Sheridan. New York: Vintage Books, 1977.
• GM (1989).Friedrich Nietzsche. On the Genealogy of Morals, translated by Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale. New York: Vintage Books.
• "A Letter from Hannah Arendt to Karl Jaspers" May 12, 2008. http://brooklynrail.org/2006/03/express/a-letter-from-hannah-arendt-to-karl-jaspers

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