Evil acts require egregious excess even when instrumental purpose exists

Evidence

The Holocaust had dwarfed all remembered and inherited images of evil. With that, it inverted all established explanations of evil deeds. It suddenly transpired that the most horrifying evil in human memory did not result from the dissipation of order, but from an impeccable, faultless and unchallengeable rule of order. It was not the work of an obstreperous and uncontrollable mob, but of men in uniforms, obedient and disciplined, following the rules and meticulous about the spirit and the letter of their briefing. It became known very soon that these men, whenever they took their unforms off, were in no way evil. They behaved much like all of us. They had wives they loved, children they cosseted, friends they helped and comforted in case of distress. It seemed unbelievable that once in uniform the same people shot, gassed or presided over the shooting and gassing of thousands of other people, including women who were someone’s beloved wives and babies who were someone’s cosseted children. It also was terrifying. How could ordinary people like you and me do it? Surely in some way, let it be a small way, a tiny way, they must have been special, different, unlike us? Surely they must have escaped the ennobling, humanizing impact of our enlightened, civilized society? Or, alternatively, they must have been spoiled, corrupted, subjected to some vicious or unhappy combination of educational factors which resulted in a faulty, diseased personality? — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 430 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: People assign evil where rational preparation precedes a horribly irrational act — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3872; Apparently evil acts can spring from genuine moral conviction; Absolute evil is evil detached from any humanly comprehensible motive — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 13 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Apparently evil acts can spring from genuine moral conviction #complicates (0.82)
• Extreme evil can stem from meticulous order rather than its breakdown #complicates (0.80) — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 430