So please don't share false quotes. Write in the comments: “sorry – not Arendt” (or better even: PM the OP). Evidence: see above. 10/10

But they must also adhere to this themselves. The distinction between true and false (where applicable) is important so that “the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world” (this _is_ a genuine Arendt quote) can continue to function. Misinformation remains misinformation. 9/

Those who are currently posting these memes (there is even an AI video with Arendt's face and voice) are mostly politically alert and insist on factual accuracy. And they are right to do so. 8/

The "quote" appears to have creeped out of a Reddit thread on Holocaust atrocities reddit.com/.../comments... – but it were the words of an anonymous user, not Arendt's (thanks to a contact for pointing this out!). 7/

Sure, a basic capacity for empathy is a prerequisite for humanity and culture. But that is not Arendt's point. In the Nazi perpetrator Eichmann, she saw “lack of imagination” and “inability to think” at work (“The Banality of Evil”), not a lack of empathy. 6/

As to the Musk quote and the MAGA polemics against empathy, which are _not_ scientific critique, see i.e. theconversation.com/magas-war-on.... 5/

The modern scientific debate on empathy highlights its ambivalence and inherent problems. A sadist, for example, obtains his perverse satisfaction only by being highly empathetic towards his victim. And empathy is biased: we empathize primarily with those who are socially close to us. 4/

Her last assistant, Jerome Kohn, explicitly rejects ‘empathy’ in Arendt: "Empathy is a fancy word or fancy theory that she argued passionately against. […] One could say it's even the opposite of her notion of thinking from another person's point of view." radioopensource.org/arendt-post-... 3/

Referring herself to Kant, she said that democracy depends on people rationally understanding the views of others, including their opponents: the famous “enlarged thought.” This requires emotional distance. 2/

Genau, richtig! Soweit ich mich erinnere, stand ihm auf preussischer Seite Generalleutnant Geruch von Bargeld gegenüber

Oh, got it! Covfefe was Fexcectorn avant la lettre!

"Es hätte sicher einschneidende Folgen für die abendländische Kultur gehabt, hätte dieses Hören auf die Welt als erkenntnistheoretische Grundhaltung Erfolg gehabt". Zitat des Literaturwissenschaftlers Jürgen Trabant zu Herder, aus meiner annotierten Autorenfassung:
mkrohs.pub/das-ohr-als-...

"Es hätte sicher einschneidende Folgen für die abendländische Kultur gehabt, hätte dieses Hören auf die Welt als erkenntnistheoretische Grundhaltung Erfolg gehabt". Zitat des Literaturwissenschaftlers Jürgen Trabant zu Herder, aus meiner annotierten Autorenfassung:
mkrohs.pub/das-ohr-als-...

Link zur online-Version:

www.philomag.de/artikel/das-...

Der viel beschworene "acoustic turn" – wie kriegt er die Kurve?