Abstract

What calls for thought today is radical yet ordinary thoughtlessness. But rather than become a touchstone, “the banality of evil” has been co-opted by the very thoughtlessness it would expose. Is a touchstone even possible here? Auden’s critique of Arendt’s inheritance of forgiveness points to a possibility: Jesus’ rebuke of Simon in Luke 7:36–50. Simon places himself beyond the pale of forgiveness, to which Jesus’ rebuke may recall him. How so? Will the answer that emerges introduce a touchstone that may help us become thoughtful in the face of how ordinary rootless evil has become?

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