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Hannah Arendt’s Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy
In the Fall of 1970, Hannah Arendt delivered a series of lectures on Kant’s political philosophy. She was scheduled to teach Kant again in the spring of 1976, though her death in December 1975 prevented her from doing so. Indeed, the fact of her untimely death is central to the story of Arendt’s Kant lectures – both their origin and the scholarly attention given to them. Being lecture notes, they were, of course, not published – nor were they ever intended for publication. Relegated to a cardboard box and stored in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., they became the interest of a then-graduate student, Ronald Beiner, who sought to read them for the purposes of his dissertation research.10-31-2024
Quote of the Weeks
The Dystopia of Knowledge
Jennifer M. Hudson uses Arendt and David Eggers' The Circle to understand man's quest to free himself from nature and to infinitely expand his knowledge.05-24-2015
Cassandra in Little Rock
Nicholas Tampio discusses how Arendt's essay in response to the 1957 events at Little Rock High School promotes the diffusion of power in a democracy.05-18-2015
Architecture: Human Intervention of the Earth
Hans Teerds reflects on how we understand architecture as a political concern and, by extension, understand Karl Jaspers' spatial approach to thinking.05-11-2015
Arendt on Humanity
Kazue Koishikawa challenges us to meditate on how the "political" relates to humanity and to understand why Arendt feels the public realm is diminishing.05-04-2015
Archimedes and the Anthropocene
Jeffrey Champlin discusses how Arendt's use of the "Archimedean point" in Chapter 5 of The Human Condition helps us understand the Anthropocene.04-27-2015
Critical Thinking, Judgment, and Empathy
Jennie Han discusses how Arendt's and Kant's conceptions of critical thinking help open us up to the rest of the world.04-20-2015
The Conditions of "Savages"
Michiel Bot discusses how Arendt's use of the term "savages" and "Dark Continent" in The Origins of Totalitarianism can advance our political thinking.04-13-2015
The Institutionalization of Civil Disobedience as Means of Democratization
Anabella di Pego encourages us to see Arendt's support of institutionalizing civil disobedience as a chance to evaluate our democratic institutions.04-06-2015
Hannah Arendt and The Narratable Self
Laurie Naranch discusses how the Italian philosopher Adriana Cavarero uses Arendt to argue for a narratable self in defense of individual uniqueness.03-23-2015