Corpse-like obedience (, also translated as corpse obedience, cadaver obedience, cadaver-like obedience,

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

-like obedience, slavish obedience, unquestioning obedience, absolute obedience or blind obedience) refers to an

obedience Obedience, in human behavior, is a form of "social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure". Obedience is generally distinguished from compliance, which some authors define as behavior infl ...

in which the obeying person submits unreservedly to another's will, like a mindless, animated

cadaver A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a Death, dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue (biology), tissue to ...

Jesuit origin

The term originated with the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

work by

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

from 1553, the Letter on Obedience. It has also been dated to 1558. That text said, in Latin: "" which can be translated as "We should be aware that each of those who live in obedience must allow himself to be led and guided by

Divine Providence In theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's intervention in the universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a names of God, title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general prov ...

through the

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

, as if he were a dead body". The concept, described in the Jesuit context as "fabled and misunderstood", has since been criticised by detractors of the Jesuit order as blind obedience. Jesuit supporters, in turn, refer to it as the "perfect obedience".

Modern use

The term is often associated with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(where it is known as ), where it refers to "both obedience and loyalty until death" or simply "absolute obedience" or "blind obedience". It has been associated with the discussion of German military and administration of the

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

and Nazi eras and their passive adherence to carrying out orders, including those later judged to be

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

(see also

Prussian virtues Prussian virtues ( German: ) are the virtues associated with the historical Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918). They were derived from Prussia's militarism and the ethical code of the Prussian Army as well as from bourgeois values such as honesty a ...

German militarism German militarism was a broad cultural and social phenomenon between 1815 and 1945, which developed out of the creation of standing armies in the 18th century. The numerical increase of militaristic structures in the Holy Roman Empire led to ...

, , , and

superior orders Superior orders, also known as just following orders or the Nuremberg defense, is a plea in a court of law that a person, whether civilian, military or police, should not be considered guilty of committing crimes ordered by a Officer (armed forces ...

). The

Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (, shortened to ''Berufsbeamtengesetz''), also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-establish the Civil Service, was enacted by the Nazi Party, Na ...

of 1933 has been credited with enforcing this idea in the Nazi German civil administration.

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...

, one of the major organisers of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, invoked this concept in his defence during his post-war trial. The term has also been used in the context of other

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

regimes, such as

communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

s and parties. The concept has been described as promoted by works such as ''

The Communist Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto'' (), originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (), is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, commissioned by the Communist League and originally published in London in 1848. The ...

'' or . The concept has also been mentioned in the context of extreme interpretation of

military discipline Military discipline is the obedience to a code of conduct while in military service.Le Blond, Guillaume. "Military discipline." ''The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project''. Translated by Kevin Bender. Ann Arbor ...

. Some scholars have translated the term as zombie-like obedience. A similar variation occurs in Nigerian

afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

artist

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...

's song "Zombie" (from the album of the same name), in which Kuti calls Nigerian soldiers zombies as a critique of the country's military government.

References

{{Reflist Political philosophy Conformity German words and phrases Criminal defenses Political terminology in Germany Government of Nazi Germany Corpses 16th-century neologisms Historiography of Nazi Germany

Jesuit origin

Modern use

See also

References