Auschwitz, l'impossible regard

Philosophical reflections on the significance of the Holocaust for Western thinking. Discusses the categories often used to analyze the Holocaust: the Holocaust as a genocide, a manifestation of the banality of evil, and an event that must be remembered in order to prevent it from happening again. Argues, however, that none of these categories sufficiently capture the degree to which the Holocaust challenges basic notions of Western philosophy, such as man being a rational animal, but driven by passions, which must be tamed. Interspersed with Midal's reflections regarding his own family's experiences in the Holocaust.