Thank you for this. I never understood people's obsession with Arendt. I found her midling at best and totally self absorbed refusing to see the truth of what was before her. I think of life long love of a nazi truly left her with blinders.
I am currently working on Arendt but my focus is on the biography and how her background informed and influenced her thought. Yes, she can be disliked but it still does not reduce her contributions and significance. And yes, perhaps she failed to see beyond the theoretical, but we can still learn from her insights. But, no I cannot reconcile myself with Judith Butler.
I agree that she had a lot to say about totalitarianism that we do well to bear in mind. I think that makes her issues with Israel all the more irrational. My feeling is that her ideological confusion on Zionism had much to do with her conflicted Jewish identity, which was a fairly common phenomenon among middle class German Jews of her generation.
Thank you for this. I never understood people's obsession with Arendt. I found her midling at best and totally self absorbed refusing to see the truth of what was before her. I think of life long love of a nazi truly left her with blinders.
What a great post. Thanks for your insights and history lesson. Demographics lesson is a nice bit of research.
I am currently working on Arendt but my focus is on the biography and how her background informed and influenced her thought. Yes, she can be disliked but it still does not reduce her contributions and significance. And yes, perhaps she failed to see beyond the theoretical, but we can still learn from her insights. But, no I cannot reconcile myself with Judith Butler.
I agree that she had a lot to say about totalitarianism that we do well to bear in mind. I think that makes her issues with Israel all the more irrational. My feeling is that her ideological confusion on Zionism had much to do with her conflicted Jewish identity, which was a fairly common phenomenon among middle class German Jews of her generation.