ON EICHMANN AND THE JEWS
Hannah Arendt's daringly speculative book,
Eichmann
in
Jerusalem,
has provoked as much controversy as any other work we
can think of in the last decade. Clearly what is involved is not only the
validity of Miss Arendt's argument, but the whole question of political
and moral responsibility--a question that Miss Arendt is not afraid
to pursue to unpopular conclusions. Lionel Abel's piece, which opens
a discussion of this question in
PR,
is not intended as a review: it was
submitted as a frank polemic. The editors themselves do not agree on
the merits of the arguments in Miss Arendt's book or Mr. Abel's criti–
cism of it. Miss Arendt's writing has frequently been published in
PRJ
and she is a distinguished member of the intellectual community which
it represents and is responsible to . However, one of the functions of the
magazine is to keep discussion going, even when it challenges some
0/
the assumptions and positions with which
PR
is associated, including
direct criticism of its own policies. For the next issue Daniel Bell has
undertaken to write about
Eichmann in Jerusalem,
and the questions
it brings up, from a different point of view. Pieces by Dwight
M
ac–
donald and other writers will also appear in the next and following
issues. Readers are invited to comment.
