Oh, just a Yes. Banality of Evil is a pathetic sort of Evil.
Should the man have been hung for a crime he didn't realize he
committed? Well, I don't believe in capital punishment, but
imprisonment is fine. Still, justifiable. People still died. The
fact that he was only doing his job and unaware of the extent of
his crimes makes his case pathetic but no less criminal.
In the case of unawareness, given a choice between capitol
punishment (which again, I don't believe in) and imprisonment, I
would give imprisonment/treatment.
If it was a 6 year old who killed, there's still something wrong
there that should be treated even if he was unaware.
Perhaps a separate-but-similar punishment system for wicked
crimes with awareness and wicked crimes without awareness, but
not freedom-due-to-unawareness. That, to me, is disrespectful to
the victims.
I can't disassociate evil from society's response, for to me,
evil is a social more.
