The paragraph starts with different questions that represent people’s arguments about judgment; like how can i tell right from wrong, if the majority or my whole environment has prejudged the issue? These are the arguments that people use to justify their unwillingness to judge. Some people say that judgment should not be made if one was not present during an event. In addition they also say that judgment is connected to arrogance. However, for Hannah Arendt these arguments are not valid and seem to be a non-sense since ability to judge is the main part of her argument about morality.

One of the false arguments is who I am to judge; and reason why this argument is used by people is well explained by Hannah Arendt in the next paragraph. Hannah Arendt says “Who am I to judge? actually means We're all alike, equally bad..."(19). She points out on people's unwillingness to judge because we are afraid of being confronted with our imperfections such as lack of self-confidence. People realize that we are not free agents, therefore we cannot take responsibility. We are afraid of responsibility of realizing, saying and accepting the truth. The unwillingness to judge can result into people who are incapable of differentiating between right and wrong.

Another false argument used by people is to what extent we can judge past events at which we were not present. Hannah Arendt was told that judging itself is wrong. This is a kind of argument that Eichman used during the trial. He said that he would not be able to escape his murderous duties (18). He also said that people forgot how things actually were during that time. If we would accept the argument that judgment is wrong when one was not present during an event then any court decision would lose its value and power. The judge was not there during the crime, but he or she has to judge. Historiography would not make any sense. Historiography and court are the cases where judgment is necessary. Any court procedure goes with evidences and witnesses. Therefore, decision is based on witnesses who were present during an event. Another thing that is usually associated with judgment without being present is arrogance. However, Hannah Arendt admits that even though one may judge, it does not necessarily mean that this person will not commit same crime. In order to understand people have to judge.

Ability to judge, according to Hannah Arendt, is ability to think. She mentions different arguments that people use to justify their unwillingness to think, or to judge. However, they might seem valid, but for Hannah Arendt they are not. Therefore, she gives her counterarguments. Everyone should think for himself in order to see what is right and what is wrong. Nothing would make sense if we did not think, or judge.