Philosophy Café: "ORDINARY MONSTERS" - The Horrors We’re Capable Of

We like to imagine evil as something obvious. Cruel people. Monsters. People fundamentally different from us. But what if evil can also look completely ordinary? Inspired by Hannah Arendt and her idea of the “banality of evil,” this Philosophy Café explores how ordinary people can become participants in extraordinary cruelty, not necessarily because they see themselves as evil, but through obedience, conformity, fear, ambition, or simply refusing to question what everyone else accepts. How far would you go if everyone around you said it was okay? And perhaps the more uncomfortable question: Are monsters fundamentally different from us, or are they ordinary people under different circumstances?