Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and the Realization and Defeat of the Western Tradition A ...

243 Pages·2015·1.32 MB·English

After Totalitarianism: Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and the
Realization and Defeat of the Western Tradition

A Dissertation
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
BY

Ilya P. Winham

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Mary Dietz

March 2015
© Ilya Winham 2015
Acknowledgements

I could not have written this dissertation without the support and guidance of Mary Dietz
and James Farr. I learned what political theory is or might be in their classes. I am also
grateful for the help of my other committee members, Elizabeth Beaumont and David
Haley. I would also like to thank all of the teachers who taught me about politics and
various thinkers in the history of political thought: Frank Adler, Robert Albritton, Bruce
Baum, George Comninel, Norman Dahl, Lisa Disch, Jean Elshtain, Chuck Green,
Duchess Harris, Alison Kadlec, John P. McCormick, Martha Nussbaum and Bill
Scheuerman. I would be remiss if I did not thank Kim and Nicolas David for all of their
invaluable friendship and support since I arrived in Minnesota.

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Dedication

This thesis is dedicated to my grandparents, parents, and my wife, Emily Sahakian.
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Abstract
This dissertation explores Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) and Isaiah Berlin’s (1909-1997)
understanding of the Western tradition of political philosophy in the light of
totalitarianism in their works of the late 1940s and 1950s. The total collapse of traditional
political relations and regimes in the 1930s and 1940s put the entire discipline and
tradition of political philosophy in question. As Arendt and Berlin reflected on the
Western tradition of political philosophy, both decided that the tradition was not just
defeated by Nazi and Communist totalitarianism, it was also in a sense realized in those
regimes. In exploring their ambivalent attitude toward the tradition, this dissertation aims
to illuminate how Arendt and Berlin contributed to the postwar imperative to think afresh
about the Western tradition of political philosophy not only to expose its originating
flaws, but also to reconstruct political philosophy on decidedly anti-totalitarian premises.
This dissertation engages Arendt and Berlin with respect to the topics of totalitarianism,
the tradition of political philosophy, the significance of Machiavelli for post-totalitarian
political theory, human plurality as a mode of engaging politics, modern world alienation
or agoraphobia and the midcentury zeitgeist of social adjustment. When read together—
which political theorists as a rule almost never do—these topics emerge as important to
the development of Arendt and Berlin’s respective bodies of anti-totalitarian and
“pluralist” political thought. What is ultimately at stake for them in seeking to understand
the complicated relationship between totalitarianism and the Western tradition of political
philosophy is how to proceed in political theory in a fully post-totalitarian way. In
addition to bringing Arendt and Berlin together and investigating some important
thematic similarities between them, my dissertation advances our knowledge of both
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thinkers by revealing how deeply the concepts and issues of politics, pluralism,
totalitarianism and the Western tradition of political philosophy are intertwined in their
writings. Beyond Arendt and Berlin studies, this dissertation contributes to our
knowledge of the endeavor to renovate or create political theory after totalitarianism and
during the Cold War.

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Table of Contents
Abbreviations vi

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 36
Hannah Arendt and Isaiah Berlin’s “Monist” Interpretation of the Western Tradition
of Political Philosophy

Chapter 2 76
In Meinecke’s Shadow: Hannah Arendt and Isaiah Berlin’s Discovery of a “Pagan”
Machiavelli in Christian Europe

Chapter 3 125
Pluralism Rules the Earth

Chapter 4 168
A World Unhinged

Conclusion 202

Bibliography 211

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Abbreviations
Works by Hannah Arendt listed in chronological order.

NF “Nightmare and Flight” [1945], in Essays in Understanding 1930-1954.
Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 133-135.
GP “Approaches to the ‘German Problem’” [1945], in Essays in
Understanding 1930-1954. Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken
Books, 1994, pp. 106-120.
Existenz “What Is Existenz Philosophy?,” Partisan Review 13 (1946), pp. 34-56.
FE “French Existentialism” [1946], in Essays in Understanding 1930-1954.
Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 188-193.
DKJ “Dedication to Karl Jaspers” [1947], in Essays in Understanding 1930-
1954. Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 212-216.
Burden The Origins of Totalitarianism. First Edition. New York: Harcourt, Brace
and Company, 1951.
Quest “The Spiritual Quest of Modern Man: The Answer of the Existentialists.”
Lecture, New School for Social Research, New York, N.Y., 1952. Hannah
Arendt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.
MT “Mankind and Terror” [1953], in Essays in Understanding 1930-1954.
Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 297-306.
FHM “From Hegel to Marx” [1953], in The Promise of Politics. Edited by J.
Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 2005, pp. 70-80.
RP “Religion and Politics” [1953], in Essays in Understanding 1930-1954.
Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 368-390.
EC “The Ex-Communists” [1953], in Essays in Understanding 1930-1954.
Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 391-400.
UC “Understanding Communism” [1953], in Essays in Understanding 1930-
1954. Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 363-367.
Reply “A Reply to Eric Voegelin” [1953], in Essays in Understanding 1930-
1954. Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 401-408.
NewSchool “The Great Tradition and the Nature of Totalitarianism” [1953]. Notes for
six lectures, New School for Social Research, New York, NY, March 18
to April 22, 1953. Hannah Arendt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.
UP “Understanding and Politics (The Difficulties of Understanding)” [1953],
in Essays in Understanding 1930-1954. Edited by J. Kohn. New York:
Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 307-327. This essay was the first of six
lectures Arendt gave at the New School in the Spring of 1953, and then
published in Partisan Review 20:4 (July-Aug. 1953), pp. 377-392.
NT “On the Nature of Totalitarianism: An Essay in Understanding” [1953], in
Essays in Understanding 1930-1954. Edited by J. Kohn. New York:
Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 328-360. This essay comprises lectures 2-4 of
the six lectures Arendt gave at the New School in the Spring of 1953.
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IT “Ideology and Terror: A Novel Form of Government,” The Review of
Politics 15:3 (July 1953), pp. 303-327.
Preface “Preface” [1953] to the Christian Gauss Seminar in Criticism lectures at
Princeton. Second Draft. Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., Oct. 8 to
Nov. 12, 1953. Hannah Arendt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.
TMA “Tradition and the Modern Age” [1953], in Between Past and Future:
Eight Exercises in Political Thought. New York: Penguin, 1968, pp. 17-
40. Originally the first of six lectures Arendt delivered as the Christian
Gauss Seminar lecturer at Princeton in 1953 and then published in
Partisan Review 21:1 (Jan.-Feb. 1954), pp. 53-75.
TET “The End of Tradition” [1953], in The Promise of Politics. Edited by J.
Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 2005, pp. 81-92. This essay derives
from KMPT.
TPT “The Tradition of Political Thought” [1953], in The Promise of Politics.
Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 2005, pp. 40-62.
GT1 “The Great Tradition: I. Law and Power” [1953], Social Research 74:3
(Fall 2007), pp. 713-726.
GT2 “The Great Tradition: II. Ruling and Being Ruled” [1953], Social
Research 74:4 (Winter 2007), pp. 941-954.
KMPT “Karl Marx and the Tradition of Western Political Thought” [1953],
Social Research 69:2 (Summer 2002), pp. 273-319. This material is drawn
from lectures 3-5 of Arendt’s six Christian Gauss Seminar lectures at
Princeton.
CP “Concern with Politics in Recent European Philosophical Thought”
[1954], in Essays in Understanding 1930-1954. Edited by J. Kohn. New
York: Schocken Books, 1994, pp. 428-447.
PP “Philosophy and Politics” [1954], Social Research 57:1 (Spring 1990), pp.
73-103.
Socrates “Socrates” [1954], in The Promise of Politics. Edited by J. Kohn. New
York: Schocken Books, 2005, pp. 5-39. This is a slightly different version
of PP.
Machiavelli “History of Political Theory” [1955] course, University of California,
Berkeley, CA. Hannah Arendt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, DC.
Milan “The Rise and Development of Totalitarianism and Authoritarian Forms
of Government in the Twentieth Century” [1955], in The Future of
Freedom. The Congress for Cultural Freedom. Bombay, Usha, 1955, pp.
180-206.
Broch “Hermann Broch: 1886-1951” [1955], trans. Richard Winston. In Men in
Dark Times. New York: Harvest, 1968, pp. 111-151.
Epilogue “Epilogue” [1955], in The Promise of Politics. Edited by J. Kohn. New
York: Schocken Books, 2005, pp. 201-204.
Authority “What Is Authority?” [1957], in Between Past and Future: Eight
Exercises in Political Thought. New York: Penguin, 1968, pp. 91-141.
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Jaspers “Karl Jaspers: Citizen of the World?” [1957], trans. Clara and Richard
Winston. In Men in Dark Times. New York: Harvest, 1968, pp. 81-94.
IIP “Introduction into Politics” [1956-59], in The Promise of Politics. Edited
by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 2005, pp. 93-200.
HC The Human Condition [1958]. Second Edition. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1998.
History “The Concept of History: Ancient and Modern” [1958], in Between Past
and Future: Eight Exercises in Political Thought. New York: Penguin,
1968, pp. 41-90.
Lessing “On Humanity in Dark Times: Thoughts About Lessing” [1959], trans.
Clara and Richard Winston. In Men in Dark Times. New York: Harvest,
1968, pp. 3-32.
CC “The Crisis in Culture: Its Social and Its Political Significance” [1960], in
Between Past and Future: Eight Exercises in Political Thought. New
York: Penguin, 1968, pp. 197-226.
GBPF “Preface: The Gap Between Past and Future” [1960-61], in Between Past
and Future: Eight Exercises in Political Thought. New York: Penguin,
1968, pp. 3-15.
WF “What Is Freedom?” [1961], in Between Past and Future: Eight Exercises
in Political Thought. New York: Penguin, 1968, pp. 143-171.
Wesleyan “Machiavelli” [1961] course, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT.
Hannah Arendt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, DC.
Fathers “Founding Fathers” [1963], lecture delivered at the University of Chicago.
Edited, Translated and Footnoted by Ursula Ludz based on the copy
available at the Hannah Arendt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, DC.
<http://www.hannaharendt.net/index.php/han/article/view/294/421>
Chicago “Introduction Into Politics” [1963] course, University of Chicago,
Chicago, IL. Hannah Arendt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, DC.
Gaus “‘What Remains? The Language Remains’: A Conversation with Günter
Gaus” [1964], in The Portable Hannah Arendt. Edited by Peter Baehr.
New York: Penguin, 2000, pp. 3-22.
PRUD “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship” [1964], in Responsibility
and Judgment. Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 2003, pp.
17-48.
Cornell “From Machiavelli to Marx” [1965] course, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY. Hannah Arendt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, DC.
SQMP “Some Questions of Moral Philosophy” [1965-66], in Responsibility and
Judgment. Edited by J. Kohn. New York: Schocken Books, 2003, pp. 49-
146.
OT The Origins of Totalitarianism [1966]. New addition with added prefaces.
New York: Harvest, 1994.
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