Totalitarian rule substitutes insight into the law of movement for principles of action
Evidence
No guiding principle of behavior, taken itself from the realm of human action, such as virtue, honor, fear, is necessary or can be useful to set into motion a body politic which no longer uses terror as a means of intimidation, but whose essence is terror. In its stead, it has introduced an entirely new principle into public affairs that dispenses with human will to action altogether and appeals to the craving need for some insight into the law of movement according to which the terror functions and upon which, therefore, all private destinies depend. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1057
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the ‘new principle’ of totalitarian rule: insight into the law of movement — ideology itself as the guide, displacing will and action.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1057
- XREF: connects to: Totalitarian movements subordinate the nation’s institutions to the movement itself; Totalitarian movements pursue permanent motion rather than any final political goal; Totalitarian movements are propelled by direction rather than structure (+4 more)