It Is Not So Much

Ordinary People, Simply Doing Their Jobs, And Without Any Particular Hostility On Their Part, Can Become Agents In A Terrible Destructive Process.

Even Eichmann Was Sickened When He Toured The Concentration Camps.

The Essence In Obedience Consists In The Fact That A Person Comes To View Himself As An Instrument For Carrying Out Another Person's Wishes And He Therefore No Longer Regards Himself As Responsible For His Actions.

When An Individual Wishes To Stand In Opposition To Authority, He Does Best To Find Support For His Position From Others In His Group. The Mutual Support Provided By Men For Each Other Is The Strongest Bulwark We Have Against The Excesses Of Authority.

Although A Person Acting Under Authority Performs Actions That Seem To Violate Standards Of Conscience, It Would Not Be True To Say That He Loses His Moral Sense. Instead, It Acquires A Radically Different Focus. He Does Not Respond With A Moral Sentiment To The Actions He Performs. Rather, His Moral Concern Now Shifts To A Consideration Of How Well He Is Living Up To The Expectations That The Authority Has Of Him.