In The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt boldly claims that “the greater part of political philosophy since Plato could easily be interpreted as various attempts to find […] ways for an escape from politics altogether.” Politics was perceived for the most parts as a means for bringing order into the uncertain realm of human affairs so as to make room for a life of contemplation. Accordingly, philosophy has construed political action in terms of rule and sovereignty, rather than the “sharing of words and deeds” among plural actors. Arendt seeks to revive the “pre-philosophical” understanding, as she puts it, which finds in political action the meaning and worthiness of human lives. To this end, she undertakes a phenomenological and historical investigation of the life of activity (vita activa) and its underlying categories, while attempting to discern political action in its singularity.

The course will be dedicated to a critical examination of central theses from The Human Condition, while placing them in the broader context of Arendt’s thought and her relation to the philosophical tradition. We shall study the major conceptual distinctions informing her writing: the division between the social and the political, the private and the public, and between different realms of activity (labor, work and action). We will review the objections and controversies surrounding these theses, and appreciate their relevance to contemporary political thought.

There are no prerequisites for the course.                                                                                 

Course requirements: active participation, two short response papers, final take-home exam.