Hannah Arendt: An Introduction

210 Pages·1998·10.75 MB·English

by  John McGowan

Hannah Arendt
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Hannah Arendt
An Introduction
John McGowan
University of Minnesota Press
Minneapolis
London
Copyright 1998 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-
copying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McGowan, John, 1953-
Hannah Arendt: an introduction / John McGowan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8166-3069-0 (hardcover : alk. paper). — ISBN 0-8166-3070-4
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Arendt, Hannah—Contributions in political science. I. Title.
JC251.A74M395 1997
320.5'092—dc21 97-15017
CIP
The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer.
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Jane
finally
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Usage and References xi
1. Origins: Arendt's Life and Coming to Terms with Totalitarianism 1
Biography 1
Arendt on Totalitarianism 15
2. Politics as Identity-Disclosing Action 34
The Political and the Public 3 8
Labor and Work 42
Behavior and the Social 45
Explaining the Rise of the Social 52
Action, Freedom, and Identity in the Space of
Appearances 60
A Pickup Basketball Game 70
Participatory Democracy 81
Conclusion: Recovering Citizenship 94
3. Understanding and Judging the Reality of Evil 96
The Reality of Evil 100
Thinking 108
Judging 120
Storytelling 137
Conclusion: Are We Being Political Yet? 147
4.Arendt Now 150
The Meaning of Democracy 154
A Democratic Ethos 166
Notes 181
References 185
For Further Reading 187
Index 189
Acknowledgments
That I have compiled so many debts in writing so short a book testi-
fies to my membership in the vibrant intellectual community that is
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This book would not
exist if it were not for two people I did not even know five years ago:
Craig Calhoun and Susan Bickford. Craig asked me to team-teach a
graduate seminar on Arendt with him; initiated and found the funds
for a conference on Arendt, "Hannah Arendt and the Meaning of Pol-
itics," that we ran together; and suggested that I complement the vol-
ume of essays we compiled from that conference with an introduction
to Arendt's thought. Through the Program in Social Theory and Cross-
Cultural Studies (which he founded), Craig created an intellectual
space of appearances for a whole generation of UNC faculty and stu-
dents. I, a latecomer, am only one among many who benefited from
Craig's generosity, vision, energy, and (not least) breathtaking bril-
liance. Susan was the reader perched on my shoulder as I wrote this
book. I think she has memorized every word Arendt ever wrote. She
read each draft as I produced it, saved me from countless errors,
talked me through any number of difficult points, and buoyed me
with what I flatter myself was judicious praise. I can only hope that
her theoretical acuity, political commitment, and intellectual courage
enliven these pages as they do all those who are lucky enough to be
her colleagues, students, and friends.
My thanks to Laurence Avery and the Department of English for
a study leave, and to Ruel Tyson, Lloyd Kramer, and the Institute of
Arts and Humanities both for a faculty fellowship and for financial
ix