Lunchtime Talk with Irene Quiliconi

This event occurs on:  Wed. November 5, 11:30 am

Irene’s research explores the ethical reflection that Hannah Arendt began to develop after the Eichmann trial and that culminates in Arendt’s last unfinished masterpiece, The Life of the Mind.

Of particular interest to her is the first chapter of the section dedicated to the activity of thinking. In that context, Arendt focuses on several key concepts—such as that of appearance—drawing on new authors, including figures from the realm of biological studies. Among these, the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty and the zoologist Adolf Portmann are especially significant.

In this presentation, Irene seeks to connect Arendt’s conception of thinking as an activity inextricably rooted in the sensible world with several key questions—also emerging from earlier passages in Arendt’s works—concerning the possibility of inhabiting the world in a truly human and ethical way.

Learn more about our Visiting Scholar Program and about Irene here.