Hannah Arendt: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #717

by Dana Villa

Very Short Introductions : Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was one of the major intellectual figures of the twentieth century. Born in Konigsberg to secular Jewish parents, she was a student of the two major exponents of Existenz philosophy in Germany, Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger. Arendt escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, traveling first to Paris and then in 1940 to the United States, where she gained citizenship in 1951. As director of the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction she oversaw the collection and presentation of over 1.5 million articles of Judaica and Hebraica that had been hidden from or looted by the Nazis.

This Very Short Introduction explores the philosophical ideas and political theories belonging to one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. As a survivor of the Holocaust, Arendt's life informed her work exploring the meaning and construction of power, evil, totalitarianism, and direct democracy. Through insightful readings of Arendt's best-known works, from The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) to The Life of the Mind (1978), Dana Villa traces the importance of Arendt's ideas for today's reader. In so doing, Villa explains how Arendt gained world-wide fame with the publication of Origins , and went on to have a distinguished career as a political theorist and public intellectual. A sometimes controversial figure, Arendt is now recognised as one of the most important political thinkers of the twentieth century and her works have become an acknowledged part of the Western canon of political theory and philosophy.

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Philosophy, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Politics

160 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2023

Reviews

[Patricia Roberts-Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're interested in Arendt, this is the place to start. She's hard to understand if you just pick up something of hers and try to read it--she's engaged in conversations that unfamiliar to most of us, and she doesn't have the conventional readings of major figures (although I think she's right--I mean that she's pretty critical of Plato, for instance), and she engages in long paraphrases (so it can be hard to figure out where she stands). So, this book is perfect to read before trying to read her directly.

[Ghada · Rating 4 out of 5]

هانا\حنا آرنت فضلت تطاردني من فتره, بقرأ عنها في أماكن عشوائيه جداً. ما كنتش أعرف عنها قبل كده, لكن أثارت فضولي. لغاية ما قرأت مقالة مترجمه جميله عنها في جريدة أخبار الأدب من فتره خلتني أتحمس أكتر إني أقرأ عنها.

الكتاب (اللي سمعته أوديو) لطيف جداً وبيستعرض أهم كتب هانا و وجهه نظرها الغير تقليديه في أمور كتير.
وحالياً متحمسه أني أتوقف عن القراءه عنها وأبداً أقرلها.



Original article by the famous Maria Popova: https://www.themarginalian.org/2019/0...

ترجمة أسماء يس في أخبار الأدب https://akhbarelyom.com/news/newdetai...

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine, I guess. I don't like Arendt very much, and I thought Villa was annoyingly uncritical of Arendt at times, but I do now have a better sense of what some of Arendt's main works were about.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A DNF actually, of the audiobook. The reader sounded more AI than Alexa. The facts sounded like a poorly organized undergraduate paper. This is not the first in the series I've tried, with the same unsatisfactory results. It does a disservice to Arendt's critical 20th century influence. Of course, your take may be different. C'est la vie!

[jacob smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most interesting things i’ve read. The observations she makes regarding totalitarianism is incredibly thoughtful, especially considering the fact that she narrowly escaped Nazi persecution in the years leading up to the holocaust. The link she makes between imperialism/racism/antisemitism and totalitarianism is really well put. The chapter on judging, thinking and willing intriguing. It’s a shame her lectures on that were unfinished.

[Doom Guy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This served as a comprehensive overview of Arendt's political philosophy.
*What I found was well explained:*
• Arendt's explanation of how reverence of laws of movement ("Nature" in the case of the Nazis, "History" in the case of the Soviets) legitimise an evolutionary end of which the pursuit is endless.
• The issues associated with "inalienable rights" due to citizenship in a sovereign nation-state system in a world composed only of nation-states (loss of citizenship = expulsion from humanity, therefore "right to have rights" is necessary)
• The part on Arendt's view of revolutions certainly made for interesting new perspectives. These were that:
1) the French Revolution was a failure (a bit strong imo) because it was derailed away from political freedom by the "social question" (poverty).
2) the American Revolution was only partially successful because it guaranteed freedom "from politics" (negative freedom) but not freedom "for politics" (participatory democracy at the local level)
• Her favourable view of Socratic cross-examination (which she says creates inner plurality)

*What was either poorly articulated or which I did not have the intelligence to understand:*
• Arendt's views on what 'society', 'labor' and 'work' mean and how they interrelate were not many any clearer to me by this book. Whilst I grasped what some of the individual ideas expressed in these sections were getting at, the overall logical flow did not make sense to me.
• Why administration is not considered political, and relatedly, why the social question cannot be resolved through politics. From what I understood, Arendt narrowly considers politics to be decision and persuasion, and argues that any decent society will agree to administer the basic needs of its members. In our neoliberal climate, that would mean decent societies remain exceedingly rare even today, and therefore surely politics (public contestation of what a decent society should really be doing) *is* part of the solution.

[Dovide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the short length of the book, Villa manages a great introduction to Arendt’s tumultuous life and times and a survey/exploration of her most important texts and concepts.

My highlights were the chapters on “The Origins of Totalitarianism” and that discussing the banality of evil through her seminal “Eichmann in Jerusalem”.

I look forward to tackling the original texts after such a great primer.

[Iñigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this, but shaking my head the whole time so the people on the bus know I disagree with Arendt.

[Lilly [Hiatus due to School] · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to start for those who are interested in Hannah Arendt. Provided a very good overview of her theories, history, books and writings.

[Circa24 Circa24 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will not be for everyone. As an overview, it is dense and sometimes hardgoing. However, it gives an excellent introduction to the philosophy of Hannah Arendt, a 20th-century German-American historian, philosopher, and political theorist who explored totalitarianism, driven in part by her experiences at the hands of the Nazis and as a refugee. She coined the now-famous phrase, "the banality of evil," in her attempt to explain how so many ordinary people could participate in the horrors of the Shoah.

Because she tried to understand what drove people like Adolf Eichmann and how he could remain comfortable with his role in the executions of millions, she was criticized as an apologist rather than a scholar trying to understand how evil maintains its grip on humans. This same condemnation continues today, with many people believing that condemnation and understanding are mutually exclusive.

Despite the dark subject matter that enthralled her (totalitarianism), Arendt retains a spark of hope in reason and an underlying core of goodness in human nature. Critically, she does not see thought and philosophy as reserved for a few but believes that our salvation lies in our ability to think for ourselves because our thoughts create individualism and threaten totalitarian control.

To end with one quote by her:

"If the ability to tell right from wrong should turn out to have anything to do with the ability to think, then we must be able to "demand" its exercise from every sane person, no matter how erudite or ignorant, intelligent or stupid, he may happen to be. Kant in this respect almost alone among the philosophers was much bothered by the common opinion that philosophy is only for the few, precisely because of its moral implications."

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hannah Arendt : A Very Short Introduction (2022) by Dana Villa is a biography of the remarkable Hannah Arendt.

The first part of the book writes about Arendt’s early life and how she grew up in Konigsberg and then went to Marburg where she studied under Martin Heidegger with whom she had an affair. She got her PhD from Heidelberg and then soon left Germany due to Nazi persecution first going to France and then the US. She was included in various far left and Zionist circles.

The book then has chapters on her books and philosophy. With a chapter each on the books ‘The Human Condition’, ‘The Origins of Totalitarianism’ and ‘On Revolution’. There is also a chapter on ‘Eichmann in Jerusalem’.

Arendt’s famous contribution, that of the description of ‘Totalitarianism’ which equates Marxism and the far right in their manner of demanding that law and life in general be subservient to their ideology is well described in the book.

The book makes the point that Arendt views on freedom very much included political participation as an important part of human life. Her view was that the US’s revolution had been more about ‘negative freedom’ in the Isiah Berlin sense than helping people become wealthy. She also made the interesting point that the US revolution was one of very few that occurred in a wealthy successful country.

The very short introduction to Hannah Arendt is very much worth reading for anyone interested in Arendt’s life and work.

[Rita Wilbur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every single one of the VSIs I’ve read has been excellent, and this one is no exception. They are not easy reads. Despite being very short, they take me a long time because I have to read every sentence twice or even three times. This is because each sentence is packed with meaning. I have long been wanting to read Hannah Arendt in order to shed light on our political world, but the task has been daunting. When I found out there was a VSI on her, I pounced. Arendt of course was personally impacted by the Nazis final solution, and arguably she spent the rest of her career wrestling with the implications of those events.

My mother was a community organizer, so I resonated with what Arendt says about humans being political agents. Freedom, the will, these are only truly expressed when we meet with others, argue, persuade and are persuaded about how to live our common life. She lays the groundwork for understanding what is wrong with our current political system. Really, she says the flaw has been there since the beginning. Even while she praises the American Revolution for making true democracy possible, she notes the basic flaw. While our constitution recognized federal and state government, it failed to acknowledge the key role of the polis- basically the town hall. This is truly the level at which people can meet, discuss, persuade, and make decisions.

This is just one of the many profound insights that Arendt explored and which this book makes clear.

[Ramdhani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hannah Arendt is one of the names that is often used as a reference in writings/reading materials that mention totalitarianism. One of her best-known works, Origins of Totalitarianism, is recognized as one of the most influential writings in political science.

Like most thinkers with influential works, Hannah Arendt's ideas are not easy to grasp, especially for the uninitiated reader, and this book written by Dana Villa can be a good introductory reference before diving further into the depths of Hannah Arendt's thought in her many works.

The author explains the background of Hannah Arendt and the important events in her life, which later influenced her thinking in her works. Most importantly, the author explains in easy-to-understand language the ideas of Hannah Arendt, one of the most famous being the origins of totalitarianism.

In this book, the author is able to present the essence of Hannah Arendt's thought in a relatively easy-to-understand manner, which is important because, like many other influential works, reading Hannah Arendt's texts directly can be quite confusing for the novice reader, and this book can be a good first read as an introduction to Hannah Arendt's thought.

[Sibel Çokşen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a good clarification of Arendt's most important works and her political theory. Reading her theories about politics, totalitarianism, revolution, violence, thinking, judgement etc in this well-coordinated short book can make you understand the links between these concepts and her political theory.
Specifically, I think the author illuminates vey well a confusing issue in Arendt's writings. As you may know, on the hand Arendt criticizes settled "vita contemplativa" in Western philosophical tradition (which is also the reason of why she didn't want to be called philosopher). But on the other, she says that reflective thinking is a kind of political action. Villa explains the difference between vita contemplativa and reflective thinking in Arendt's theory.

[Macho · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the structure. The intro is a biographical sketch of Arendt, and then each of the chapters take on one of her major works: The Origins of Totalitarianism through Eichmann in Jerusalem.

But I'm just not sure I get a lot out of Arendt's philosophy, or perhaps it was just this retelling of it. There are brief glimpses of things that are interesting, particularly around human freedom, but things like the active refusal to address the "social question" i.e. class struggle, and valorization of the American Revolution over the French Revolution, among others, strike me as beyond strange.

[Daniel Schotman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a excellent, very clear and concise introduction that serves as a perfect introduction to her work, other studies or other books on Arendt from Villa (who wrote quite a few).

Just only keep in mind that it only discusses her most famous works and not her less known works.
For that you might want to check her more elaborate biography on Arendt (published by Routlegde).

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realize there is a fine line in this series from an introduction to an individual and a biography of an individual. This one leaned toward the latter and as such was not really what I was hoping for. Arendt was terrifically interesting however, and I am going to try to work through some of her writings.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating but well above my pay-grade. Requires quite a substantial knowledge of the tenants of ancient philosophy. Well written and engaging until the last section where I become utterly and completely lost.

[Anders Risager · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great review of Hannah Arendts books and her life.

Her writing is, as most other philosophers, difficult to read and understand, so books like this really help me to prepare for delving in to her bibliography.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another solid entry in the AVSI series

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hannah Arendt was one of the most influential 20th century American (German-born) political philosophers, but as that information garners little more familiarity than, say, the best civil engineer of 19th century Liechtenstein, she's most widely remembered as the one who coined the phrase "banality of evil" after reporting on the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem in the early 60's. Arendt famously depicted Eichmann as a milquetoast petty functionary, rather than the seething, rabid antisemite everybody was expecting to learn about in her book. This Very Short Introduction offers an overview of Arendt's work on totalitarianism, revolution, freedom, and thought and will.

I found the last chapter (on "judging, thinking, and willing") to be the most intriguing, particularly as it addresses the Eichmann experience most extensively. The sections on totalitarianism and revolution could have been more engaging, given the compelling subject matter. Still, it's a concise overview of Arendt's ideas and a little about how they clashed with competing ideas and informed future work.

If you have no idea about the life and philosophy of Hannah Arendt (as I didn't before reading this book,) this is a useful brief overview of her biography and the ideas contained in her major works.

[catherine ✩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

no hate to dana i just wasn’t that interested in revolution and constitution

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

As expected from the VSI series this is a very good introduction to Arendt with main focus on:
The Origins of Totalitarianism
The Human Condition
On Revolution
The Life of the Mind

[Arathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

just... solid???

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

she’s perfect to me. time to read the life of the mind, the human condition, between past and future, and critique of judgement….