1st Edition

An Analysis of Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition

By Sahar Aurore Saeidnia, Anthony Lang Copyright 2017
    110 Pages
    by Macat Library

    110 Pages
    by Macat Library

    Hannah Arendt’s 1958 The Human Condition was an impassioned philosophical reconsideration of the goals of being human. In its arguments about the kind of lives we should lead and the political engagement we should strive for, Arendt’s interpretative skills come to the fore, in a brilliant display of what high-level interpretation can achieve for critical thinking. Good interpretative thinkers are characterised by their ability to clarify meanings, question accepted definitions and posit good, clear definitions that allow their other critical thinking skills to take arguments deeper and further than most. In many ways, The Human Condition is all about definitions. Arendt’s aim is to lay out an argument for political engagement and active participation in society as the highest goals of human life; and to this end she sets about defining a hierarchy of ways of living a “vita activa,” or active life. The book sets about distinguishing between our different activities under the categories of “labor”, “work”, and “action” – each of which Arendt carefully redefines as a different level of active engagement with the world. Following her clear and careful laying out of each word’s meaning, it becomes hard to deny her argument for the life of “action” as the highest human goal.

    Ways in to the Text 

    Who was Hannah Arendt? 

    What does The Human Condition Say? 

    Why does The Human Condition Matter? 

    Section 1: Influences 

    Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context 

    Module 2: Academic Context 

    Module 3: The Problem 

    Module 4: The Author's Contribution 

    Section 2: Ideas 

    Module 5: Main Ideas 

    Module 6: Secondary Ideas 

    Module 7: Achievement 

    Module 8: Place in the Author's Work 

    Section 3: Impact 

    Module 9: The First Responses 

    Module 10: The Evolving Debate 

    Module 11: Impact and Influence Today 

    Module 12: Where Next? 

    Glossary of Terms 

    People Mentioned in the Text 

    Works Cited

    Biography

    Dr Anthony Lang is Head of the Schook of International Relations at the University of St Andrews.His work focuses on questions of agency, responsibility and punishment in political theory.

    Dr Sahar Aurore Saeidnia is a doctoral researcher at the Institut de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les enjeux sociaux, of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (EGESS-IRIS).