汉娜·阿伦特（Hannah Arendt） 所著《Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report of the Banality of Evil》一书副标题中的the banality of evil在该书中文译本中有两种译法：“平庸的恶”和“平凡的恶”。
阿伦特用the banality of evil来描述阿道夫·艾希曼（Adolf Eichmann）的恶行。艾希曼是纳粹德国高官，犹太人大屠杀中执行“最终方案”的主要负责者。关于the banality of evil的意思，可参考下面内容：
Arendt used the words "the banality of evil" to describe what she saw in Eichmann. If something is "banal", it is common, boring andunoriginal. Eichmann’s evil was, she claimed, banal in the sense that it was the evil of a bureaucrat, of an office manager, rather than a devil. Here was this very ordinary sort of man who had allowed Nazi views to affect everything he did.
[…] Eichmann, likemany Nazis during that era, failed to see things from someone else’s perspective. He wasn’t brave enough to question the rules that he was given: he simply looked for the best way to follow them. He lacked imagination. Arendt described him as shallow and brainless– though that too could have been an act. Had he been a monster he would have been terrifying. But at least monsters are rare and usually quite easy to spot. What was perhaps more terrifying still was the fact that he appeared so normal. He was an ordinary man who, by failing to question what he was doing, took part in some of the most evil acts known to humanity.’
https://yalebooksblog.co.uk/2013/06/05/the-banality-of-evil-hannah-arendt/
将banality译为“平庸”可能是考虑到艾希曼不是魔鬼，只是一个普通人，一个不反思自己行为，只知道遵从命令的官僚。问题是“平庸”的意思是没有突出之处，是从才华和表现上将一个人归为“普通”之列。说艾希曼“平庸”就是说他碌碌无为、没有做出什么丰功伟绩。参考“平庸之作”和“表现平庸”等说法，说艾希曼的恶“平庸”，就是说他的恶行不突出，不值得关注。因此，“平庸”既不能形容艾希曼，也不能形容他策划屠杀犹太人的行为。此外，“平庸的恶”这一表达还可能引发“平庸就是恶”的歧义。
“平凡”的问题与“平庸”类似，而且这个词还常用在赞美普通人的语境下，更不宜用来翻译banality。
结合上面引文第二段内容，可知banality of evil主要有两层含义：普通人也会作恶以及作恶过程本身已成为routine，作恶的人不去质疑自己的行为（unoriginal），好像没有脑子一样（brainless），机械地完成恶行。
“寻常”既有“普通”又有“经常、平时”的意思，从人和事这两个角度都可以满足翻译banality的需要。因此，the banality of evil或可译为“恶的寻常一面”。“一面”可以添加画面感，让人联想到艾希曼普通人的面容，进而暗示艾希曼这一个体对the banality of evil概念产生的影响。
（中国翻译研究院）
