German-American Philosopher
[1906-1975]
Hanah Arendt's childhood and you adult life were strife with lots of romance, loss, and action. At the age of 7, she lost her father because of syphilis, and Arendt's mother raised her. Surprisingly, Hanah was unaffected by World War One, and in her early life was unaffected by the anti-semitic elements that would later be the focus of her works and effort.
At the age of sixteen, Goethe, Kant and Kierkegaard had a profound effect on Arendt, and Kierkegaard, in particular, affected her poetry. Other literature influenced her theological thoughts. At the age of 18, Arendt went to the University of Marburg and during her time their she met Martin Heidegger, with whom she had an affair. This affair lasted until she realized he was involved in the National Socialist Party. (They got back together in 1950s, well after the war was over).
As we forshadowed earlier, a lot of Arendt's efforts were focused on analyzing the moral and political causes for the rise of Nazi Germany. Arendt came to the conclusion that only thinking could prevent the causes (basically evil) that ultimately led to the the rise of Nazi Germany.
Arendt was also influenced by other people, like Husserl and Karl Jaspers. From Jaspers tutelage, she wrote her dissertation on St Augustine's concept of love through the will of God.
Some more of her works include:
1951 The Origins of Totalitarianism- (Notably critics thought her ideas were overgeneralized).
1952 The Human Condition on Revolution and Between Past and Future.
1964 The Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on The Banality and Evil- (This dealt with who one should try a person who had committed heinous acts against humanity).
1972 Crises of The Republic
1978 The Life of the Mind-(Note here that Arendt only published two parts ("Thinking" and "Willing") of this book. She dies before she could publish the final part, "Justice."
Other sources of information
The Window- Arendt
The Hannah Arendt Papers at the Library of CongressAquinas
Hannah Arendt
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