Amor Mundi

The weekly newsletter of the Hannah Arendt Center

What is most difficult, writes Arendt, is to love the world as it is. Loving the world means neither uncritical acceptance nor contemptuous rejection, but the unwavering facing up to and comprehension of that which is. The opinions expressed in essays on our site are those of their authors.

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About

Amor Mundi (for love of the world) is an exploration of Arendtian topics delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning. This includes deep dives into the works of Hannah Arendt and the implications of her ideas on the world today. We feature varied, nuanced, and often opposing viewpoints in this non-partisan publication, and brave and provocative ideas that will help you (re)discover the joy of deep thinking and caring about the world.

When you subscribe to the newsletter, you'll also receive first-hand updates on what we’re doing at HAC (conferences, events, workshops, etc.), an Arendt Quote of the Week with in-depth analysis from Arendt scholars from around the world, and highlights of the work being done on campus by our Student Fellows. Be among the first to know about special offers from our partners and upcoming events!

We've been publishing weekly essays here on our website since 2010, and are now transitioning to the publication platform Medium. You can still read for free with links from our email each Sunday! But now you can highlight sections and comment, too!

Browse our Library of Amor Essays on Medium

A note to new Medium users: if you see an offer pop-up, just simply X out to close and continue reading. You can also Follow HAC on Medium and Subscribe to our publications, to receive additional notifications so you don't miss an essay.

The Radical Politics of Joy

"Is Joy really what Arendt wants us to be talking about, amidst the most racist, cruel, and criminal American administration since the Civil Rights era?" So asked one of my favorite former students, protesting the theme of this year's Hannah Arendt Center Conference: JOY: Loving the World in Dark Times.

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Civil Disobedience and the Spirit of American Democracy

Hannah Arendt wrote that, “Dissent implies consent, and is the hallmark of free government.” We are at a moment when dissent is required if we are to preserve our freedoms.

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Temptations of Tyranny

“If this isn’t tyranny, what is?” So asks Rod Dreher, one of President Trump’s most steadfast intellectual supporters, now increasingly alarmed by the President’s abuses of power.

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An Open Letter To My Friends Who Signed “Philosophy for Palestine”

These are dark times as multiple crises are erupting around the world while talk of a global conflagration is heard in many circles. These are also times that try human relationships, friendships, and alliances.

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Temptations of Tyranny

Rod Dreher’s conflicted support for President Trump illustrates a broader crisis among intellectual conservatives who fear the "soft totalitarianism" of liberal institutions yet embrace the hard authoritarianism of executive overreach. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s political thought, the essay contends that true freedom is preserved not through charismatic leaders but through the multiplication and decentralization of citizen power. Revitalizing democracy, it argues, requires stubborn, local acts of collective governance rather than the dangerous temptation to concentrate authority in a single figure.

04-27-2025

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To Think What We Have Done

Alex Cocotas worries about the culture of Holocaust memorialization.

04-23-2017

Article, Post

The World At Stake

Lacino Hamiltion argues that Black Lives Matter is transforming from a protest movement into a political movement.

04-16-2017

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Butterflies and Bees

Ralph Benko offers a fascinating metaphor of the Bees and the Butterflies that helps explain the political divide in the United States.

04-09-2017

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Listening And The Lecture

Miya Tokumitsu offers a defense of the much maligned university lecture. The attack on the lecture—that is passive learning and offers one-size-fits-all education—should not be true.

04-02-2017

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The Honor System

In an interview with Michael Judge, Garry Kasparov elaborates on his off-the-cuff remark that Donald Trump's press conference resembled a Soviet press conference.

03-26-2017

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The Courage to Be: Penny Gill

Claire Harvey, Stefan Stojanov, and Annah Heckman, HAC student fellows, share their thoughts on Penny Gill's visit for our spring 2017 "Courage to Be" Dinner and Lecture Series.

03-21-2017

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Hannah Arendt on Totalitarianism

Roger Berkowitz has been teaching a semester-long course on Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism for more than a decade. He is currently leading the Hannah Arendt Center's Virtual Reading Group sessions on the book. In a long essay in The Los Angeles Review of Books, Berkowitz argues that Arendt's brilliant insights into totalitarian movements is an essential guide to today's political world.

03-19-2017

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Getting Religion

William Deresiewicz has published a version of the talk he gave at the Hannah Arendt Center's Fall Conference "Real Talk: Difficult Questions About Race, Sex, and Religion." Deresiewicz argues that orthodox political correctness is the new religion on campus.

03-12-2017

Article, Post

How Quickly It Can Happen

Timothy Snyder is the latest to remind us "how quickly a modern republic can be transformed into an authoritarian regime."

03-05-2017