Chapter 1 Introduction: Why Hannah Arendt? Chapter 2 The Pariah and Her Shadow: Hannah Arendt's Biography of Rahel Varnhagen Chapter 3 Jewish Politics and German "Existenz Philosophy": The Sources of Hannah Arendt's Thought Chapter 4 The Destruction of the Public Sphere and the Emergence of Totalitarianism Chapter 5 The Dialogue With Martin Heidegger: Arendt's Ontology of The Human Condition Chapter 6 The Art of Making and Subverting Distinctions: With Arendt, Contra Arendt Chapter 7 From the Problem of Judgment to the Public Sphere: Rethinking Hannah Arendt's Political Theory
Seyla Benhabib is Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University, and director of the Program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics.
It is difficult to do justice to the rich texture of Benhabib's
argument and interpretation, which is a magisterial dialectic
between modernity and existentialism, reformism and utopianism, and
fundamentalism and perspectivalism. Benhabib's book remains one of
the most stimulating of the recent spate of books on Arendt.
*Women's Philosophy Review*
Benhabib's discussions. . . reflect a meticulous scholarship and a
deep sensitivity to the texts which is a pleasure to read.
*Political Studies Review*
On the now quite long shelf of Hannah Arendt studies, only a few
matter. This is one.
*Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Haverford College; author of Anna Freud: A
Biography*
A brillant, historically sensitive and deeply sympathetic but not
at all uncritical account of the entire range of Arendt's thought.
It weaves its way through Arendt's personal experiences,
philosophical influences, and cultural contexts with remarkable
subtlety and ease. Few books on Arendt offer a more vivid and
reliable account of the unity of her life and thought.
*Bhikhu Parekh, University of Westminster*
Seyla Benhabib's remarkable and nuanced book is the first to give
Hannah Arendt's ambivalent relationship to modernity the complex
and critical assessment it deserves. Written with force and
clarity, this study is indispensable for any serious encounter with
Arendt's thought.
*Anson Rabinbach, Princeton University*
A strikingly original interpretation of Hannah Arendt that brings
into the foreground the significance of Arendt's biography of Rahel
Varnhagen, Arendt's concern with Jewish politics, and her attempt
to understand the emergence of totalitarianism. This provides the
context for a fresh reading of The Human Condition and The Life of
the Mind, as well as the complex relation between Arendt and
Heidegger. Anyone interested in the recent resurgence of
international interest in Arendt and her relevance for contemporary
political thought will find Seyla Benhabib's comprehensive and
judicious analysis invaluable.
*Richard J. Bernstein, Professor of Philosophy, New School for
Social Research*
Benhabib is an excellent guide to the uninitiated, offering
context, central themes, and concise yet sophisticated
philosophical analysis in accessible prose.
*Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal
Philosophy*
Benhabib's great homage, which makes us familiar with Arendt's
thought, has a paradoxical effect: one learns to appreciate the
distance which is expressed in this sovereign interpretation. One
will not be able to come closer to the philosophical hedgerose,
Hannah Arendt
*Die Zeit*
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