On Disobedience – Erich Fromm

Eric Fromm ived through the Holocaust and in his books he sought to explain how people like Adolf Eichmann could argue he was blameless for committing a gigantic evil.  Fromm developed a theory of the authoritarian conscience – one that chooses to obey an authority figure – which he contrasts with the humanistic conscience.  Eichmann provides an important case study, and he also invoked Kant in his trial – follow this link for a transcript available on this site. The humanistic conscience “is the voice that calls us back to ourselves, to our humanity” (see page 3).