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The term "violence," in its most basic sense, refers to the harm inflicted on people by other human beings. The totalitarian experiments of the 20th century expanded this use of violence to a scale and intensity unprecedented in human history, and it is in this context that this perennial work by Hannah Arendt should be framed. For political philosophy, the violence that is the object of its study has two faces: the organized violence of the State or that which erupts against it. This has led many to think that violence is above all a form of the exercise of power. The author's starting position in "On Violence" consists of the meticulous study of political violence in its extreme incarnations within the contemporary world and in its careful separation between violence and political power; the latter is the result of cooperative action, while the violence of the 20th century is linked to the magnifying scope of destruction provided by technology.