Talk:Hannah Arendt

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My english is not so good, but if you study with a person (Heidegger), doesn't this mean that both of you are students? In this case this part is false, for Heidegger was a teacher in philosophy when he met Arendt. Sorry if this is a stupid remark because of my english.

He was her teacher and lover.--Ot 13:07, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Not at all stupid, you just stubbed your toe on one of the vagrancies of the English language. If you run with someone, you are both runners. However, usually if a student studies with X, that X is a teacher, even if they share beds. I say, usually, since you might well overhear somebody saying, Last night I studied with John (a fellow student) to prepare for the exam. Sigh... Joel Mc 07:35, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

I removed "important but hard-to-classify", because it seemed a bit vague and unhelpful, but now I'm debating whether or not I should have done. Feel free to do something with it if you want. -- Oliver P. 06:32 6 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I think it reads better now. "Hard-to-classify" is kind of clumsy. Adam Bishop 15:41 6 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Konigsburg again?

"the hometown of her admired precursor Immanuel Kant, now called Kaliningrad"

"now" means when Hannah Arendt was growing up there? Or does 'now' mean the early 21st century? Didn't they change the name back after the fall of Communism?

No. Have a look at its entry. Since Kaliningrad is now surrounded by European Union states but part of Russia, it is matter of ongoing controversy for customs and immigration. Buffyg 23:02, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Why is she listed as "German"?

She wasn't German she was Jewish, you can't be both - (unsigned)

!!!!this is not a trick question at all!!!. trick is: why is this question here and unsigned? if this person do not have the coraged to sign it or formulate more precise the intention of the question, this question should not be published, in my opnion. because that is the way fachists and other criminals do their business and i think we should not allowed wikipedia to be a place for bigotry. behid this question could be a statement of no acceptance of the fact that hanna arentd is german and jewish, not to mation a great thinker. she was borned in germany and raised in germany and only have to live her country because the nazis. i do suggest that this question be erased unless the questioner do sign it and make this question more clear in its intentions. 01:27, 3 March 2007 (UTC)dontneed

That's just silly. Who taught you that lie? - Nunh-huh 05:42, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Have you heard about judaism being a nationality?! - I haven't. To me it is a religion and does by no means contradict being of German or any other nationality! (F.B.)—Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.83.58.11 (talk • contribs) 19 March 2006

  • 217.83.58.11 is typical Nazi speak. The Jews in Europe were always a distinct nation even prior to the existence of the so-called european "nations." At the time of the Enlightenment, the Jews of Europe were offerred citizenship in the newly created european "nation states." It was explicit at the time of the aftermath of the French Revolution that in exchange for citizenship the Jews would have to renounce their Jewish nationality, the oldest continuous national identity on earth. Those "german" Jews that renounced their citizenship as sons and daughters of Israel were never fully accepted in germany or europe; and were brutally murdered by the euro-gentile scum during the Holocaust. What is being said in this repugnant unsigned statement is that now that Jewish political sovereignty has been re-established in the Land of Israel, the Jewish National Homeland, the euro-nazi-muslim-arab scum, and their fellow travellers, deny the fact of the Jewish Nation; that is, again, an attempt to annihilate the Jewish people. Which is similar in every respect to Holocaust denial, since such denial attempts to white-wash an inconvenient fact that exposes the morally reprehensible objectives of Israel's muslim enemies. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.228.248.2 (talk • contribs) 17 December 2006.

Why do you complain about 217.83.58.11 when you basically agree with him ? You don`t like Yekkes, do you ? As regards Hannah, she always retained a thick German accent (as did Leo Strauss). So much for her being an American. P.S.: You`re the kind of person who vilified Arendt for her book on the Eichmann trial. Stop watching FAUX NEWS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.174.188.212 (talk) 16:22, 28 November 2007 (UTC)


    • This is actually a very tricky question. One can (in the time Hannah Arendt grew up, or today, but of course not during Nazizeit) readily be both a Jew and a German citizen. But Jewishness is not "just a religion". Being myself an ethnic Jew who is not at all religious, I assure you that the Jewish people, by tradition, consider ourselves a nationality; this long precedes Zionism, a doctrine which I do not support. The European distinction between nationality and statehood, very clear in the 19th century, has been much blurred by the fact that Europe now consists largely of nation states. Certainly Arendt was a German citizen, and raised in German culture; certainly she was not a religious person; equally certainly, she considered herself a Jew. Indeed, she famously wrote (and is cited in our article Who is a Jew? as writing) "If one is attacked as a Jew, one must defend oneself as a Jew. Not as a German, not as a world-citizen, not as an upholder of the Rights of Man, or whatever"; "A man attacked as a Jew cannot defend himself as an Englishman or a Frenchman. The world can only conclude from this that he is simply not defending himself at all." - Jmabel | Talk 20:16, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

who are you people?! this question is somewhat ignorant. one should know that Klaningrad is still a Russian city.

That was not its name when Arendt grew up in a city of East Prussia known as Königsberg and dominated by German citizens. Let's not forget that being German is among other things a matter of citizenship tied to blood, which is one of the reasons that Nazi rhetoric denying the massive fact of Jewish assimilation led to the humiliation of the Nuremberg Laws. Buffyg 22:58, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I'd suggest to list her as an American Jew since she was stripped off from German citizenship and became later a citizen of the US. An alternative might be German born American Jew. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.225.73.210 (talk) 04:10, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

Hannah Arendt really was very German. Take my word on this.--djenner (talk) 04:22, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Work on the article?

Any one interesting in collaborating on editing the article to include her philosophical work, particularly, Life of the Mind? i.e. the importance of Thinking etc.. I don't know what this would involve and it would be my first piece of work on Wiki but I'd like to try, with help, if anyone is interested. Leave a note on my talk/discussion page, please. Jeffrey Newman 08:43, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] external link

Can someone comment on the removal of the quotationsbook.com external link on this page? It is a valuable link, adding value to this page. I'd appreciate opinions.

Kind regards Amit

[edit] Zionism

I've heard Arendt referred to as a partial-zionist many times. I'm wondering if someone is willing to write a section on it. H.R.

She altered her position several times throughout her life. I will try to include more information as I have time. JKillah 20:00, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Criticism?

Don’t you think we should work on a criticism section? I know one thing she was heavily criticised for was her destination between the private and political spheres, or rather where she divided the two.--Monty Cantsin 01:49, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

I would like to do some reading with someone towards writing critically about public and private in her work. I remember Seyla Benhabib raises the issue. Where would I begin looking in Arendt? Mark Joseph 09:56, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Controversial publications were Eichmann in Jerusalem and Reflections on Little Rock. Her articles on the Eichmann trial were controversial because Arendt discussed the alleged lack of resistance and the colaboration of Jewish authorities like the Judenrate during the Holocaust, and because of the tone in which she discussed the conduct of such Jewish authorties during the Holocaust.

Her article on the Civil Rights struggle at Little Rock was controversial because she argued that enforcing school integration through the power of the U.S federal government was a mistake. The article was also controversial because the argued that state laws in the US banning interracial marriage were more a fundamental violation of human rights than legal racial segregation in education.

I hate how ridiculously convoluted her writings were, and how she mixed moral arguments with social science arguments... but I admit she made some good arguments. william n —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.105.140.164 (talk • contribs) 18 Feb 2006

[edit] Preemptive correction

Scott McLemee, Arendt Biographer Corrects Mistake Linking Her to Jewish Terrorist Group, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 12, 2004. Corrects an inaccuracy in the First Edition of For Love of the World. Arendt did not give money to the Jewish Defense League. This was biographer Elisabeth Young-Bruehl's error (she says, in the Second Edition, the only significant one she's had to correct). Apparently Edward Said ran across that detail in the book and (in 1985) ran with it. So it's probably out there, much cited, but incorrect. -- Jmabel | Talk 10:37, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] photo?

A rather unflattering photo that I've never seen before. Doesn't anybody have a better pic? —This unsigned comment was added by DStrumpf (talk • contribs) 21 March 2006.

That is rather unflattering, but if the information on the image page is accurate, it's public domain. It would be hard to justify fair use of a copyrighted photo given the availability of a public domain photo. - Jmabel | Talk 03:57, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
We could imaginably get permission from the Hannah Arendt Trust to use something, if you want to pursue that. Another possibility would be to use a book cover: Two with good photos of her as a young woman are Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Tragedy by Robert C. Pirro and The Viking Portable Hannah Arendt. Also, there is an excellent sketch of her toward the end of her life on the cover of Elisabeth Young-Bruehl's Hannah Arendt: For Love of the World. - Jmabel | Talk 04:09, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Banality of Evil

If I'm not mistaken, the phrase "banality of evil" was coined by Arendt. There is a Wikipedia entry on "Banality of Evil" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banality_of_evil), but there is no reference to that page in this article. PJ 18:22, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it is hers, and should be mentioned here. - Jmabel | Talk 05:21, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
I've now linked the word "banality", which the article already used in this context, to Banality of Evil. If anyone feels this needs more of a mention, take a shot at how to do it. - Jmabel | Talk 05:24, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

In fact, the concept emerges in the Letters with Jaspers. Help me get my identity back, and I'll look up the quotes! Jeffrey Newman 85.210.255.81 06:08, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Please expand

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2007)

Thanks. heqs 15:09, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dead link

This link: http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:kFOOap47AL4J:www.thoemmes.com/encyclopedia/arendt.htm+hannah+arendt+columbia&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=26 was given as a citation for her academic career. It's dead. It appears to have been a Google cache (bad idea, in general). I tried following up http://www.thoemmes.com/encyclopedia/arendt.htm both directly and on the Internet Archive: no luck. So I've removed it. - Jmabel | Talk 06:58, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hannah Arendt and Heidegger

Ettinger, Elzbieta: Hannah Arendt. Martin Heidegger. Eine Geschichte. 1994, Serie Piper 1904, Piper, München. I have to look for the original in English language. Austerlitz 88.72.19.139 17:27, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

The author of this book, Elzbieta Ettinger, has died last year. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/ettinger-obit.html

quotation from that article: Ettinger's controversial 1994 book, "Hannah Arendt-Martin Heidegger," interpreted the lengthy romantic relationship between the Jewish philosopher and her Nazi-affiliated mentor. In this work, described in the New York Times as "absorbing and cruelly fascinating," Ettinger was "unsparing in her exposure of both Heidegger's mendacity and Arendt's propensity for self-deception" about Heidegger, wrote the reviewer. Shortly afterward, the Heidegger estate published the full text of the Heidegger-Arendt correspondence.
Ettinger was at work on a full-length biography of Hannah Arendt at the time of her death. She is survived by her daughter, Maia Ettinger, of San Francisco. Austerlitz 88.72.19.139 17:31, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
Austerlitz 88.72.19.139 17:55, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
Ettinger didn't "reveal" that Arendt and Heidegger were lovers, nor that their friendship resumed after the war. This is entirely clear in Young-Bruehl's 1982 biography of Arendt, which, in a lightly revised edition, remains the standard biography of Arendt. What is new and controversial in Ettinger is the claim that their post-war relationship remained passionate. Young-Bruehl views Heidegger's wife's suspicions of that as largely unfounded. I haven't read the actual Arendt-Heidegger correspondence, so I have no independent opinion. - Jmabel | Talk 21:17, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Correspondence with her husband Heinrich Blücher

ISBN: 3492228356

[edit] Arendt Was A Shameless Careerist

Arendt has been discredited given her post-Holocaust "relationship" with the the unrepentant Nazi Heidegger; and her lack of personal integrity in this respect makes everything she has written morally and intellectually suspect.

It is interesting to note, and not a surprise, that a Muslim Nazi sympathizer, who attended last week's anti-history Holocaust "conference" in Iran, viz., Shiraz Dossa, who is a tenured political science "professor" at a Canadian university, has made Arendt the subject of his "academic" work that seeks to advance the morally reprehensible jihad against Israel by minimizing, if not denying, the Holocaust. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.228.248.2 (talk • contribs) 17 December 2006.

Talk pages are meant for discussing means to improve the wikipedia page, not for expressing one's opinion on the subject matter. Thx. Acornwithwings 22:32, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
Well done unsigned person. Tell the truth on the talk pages. Arendt was Martin Heidegger's lover/whore. Funny though as Heidegger was the key Nazi philospher, or not really, since Arendt, Adorno, Horkheimer and other such existentialist fully supported Heidegger's doctrine of Geworfenheit.

--Nemesis1981 23:02, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Edits

This was put on the Hannah Arendt page by Jvscott:

"Edits: 1) References to the way Arendt escaped from France are incorrect: Hannah Arendt escaped from France with the assistance of Varian Fry, working out of Marseilles for the State Department, who resuced many artists and writers. She traveled from Lisbon, having escaped over the Pyrnees, under the name "Frau Blucher" with her second husband, Heinrich Blucher. She #128 on Fry's list, his second list of lesser known European intellectuals. Fry's assistant Beamish wrote that Arendt was "a woman who will someday be famous." Sources: Marino, Andy. 1999. A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry.New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 143; Steinberg, Sheila. 2001. A hero Of Our OwnNew York: Random House. p.93"

I'm sure it's good information, but it should be put on the page so it still reads smoothly as an article. I took it off and put it here so that it is saved and can be added in a more appopriate manner. Acornwithwings 06:38, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Another book

Responsibility and Judgment should it be added to the list of her literature? Here is the Table of Contents, [1]

Austerlitz -- 88.72.20.232 10:25, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
Austerlitz -- 88.72.20.232 10:29, 27 February 2007 (UTC)


[edit] A good source on what HA may have been thinking about judgment

Hannah Arendt's death was sudden (the story is, she was found, possibly by Jerry Kohn, slumped over her typewriter, where she'd been for some time...); she was replaced the following (Spring 1976?...) semester by Ernst Vollrath. Apparently they were buddies and had nattered on about the Third Critique. Dr. Vollrath (a first class Aristotle scholar, among other things) had developed a very distinctive interpretation of Kant's doctrine of judgment, which he published in Rekonstruction der politischen Urteilskraft. There is some reason to think that HA might have been both influential in, and influence by, Vollrath's thinking. Hard book to find, but it can be had from used-booksellers in Germany for a reasonable amount. --djenner (talk) 04:34, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] putting in a reference

I'm not sure how to put in the reference. I must be doing something wrong, as it appears on the page. Could someone fix it? Thanks. --Gilabrand 13:35, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Now fixed as requested --NSH001 19:09, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Influences

I think Kierkegaard and Nietzsche should be removed from the list of persons Arendt was influenced by. I really don't see any Kierkegaard's influence in her work (as far as I know she only quotes him once, in an essay on the "end of western tradition": and she is not exactely condescending with him.) Nietzsche is another story: it's clear she knows his work quite well (although she quotes him very rarely, almost exlusively from "The Will to Power" and almost exlusively on matters related to the philosophy of science), but influenced by him? I don't see it. Where is she influenced by him?

Of course Hegel has to go from the list, too. She basically hates him (and since she never quotes him and often atributes him theories he never sustained, it's doubtful she ever truly read him - when she writes "Hegel" she actually means "the way Hegel's thought was understood by 19-Century German historicists").

On the other hand, I think Machiavelli and Montesquieu should be added. Viator slovenicus 01:14, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Hi Viator. Arendt was introduced to Kierkegaard when she was 14! And she does make a good study of Kierkegaard's Johannes Climacus or De Omnibus Dubitandum Est in her Human Condition. But I would agree with their removal as her knowledge of them, especially of Nietzsche, is heavily based from Karl Jaspers' reading. Cheers, Poor Yorick 09:04, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

what is the support for Bertrand Russell as an influence? i thought he was more-or-less a "Hegelian"? Hjijch 03:46, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Paul under Influences directs to a page about the name Paul. Which Paul is it meant to be? VaughnJess 10:51, 20 October 2007 (UTC)


[edit] She was born a German, but ..

yes this is true, but she always said, that her point of view is the Jewish perspective, because she was attackes as a jewish from the germans. The same sentencs is in the german articel.--Ot 13:36, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

I don't know what is in the "german articel" but to say that she is of german origin instead that she was German is not the same thing in English. There are many Americans, for example, who are of German origin, but who have never been to Germany, who do not speak a word of German, and who consider themselves to be American. I am pretty sure that Hannah Arendt never said or wrote any place "that her point of view is the Jewish perspective" (whatever that is), but you need to give a reference for such a statement. Her philosophy is heavily influenced by both Heidegger and Jaspers. Her writing is of course influenced by her Feriencamps as a German Jew during the Second World War. Perhaps this is what you mean that she "attackes as a jewish from the germans." But what ever you might think of her writings, she descended from Germans and was born a German. In English we would describe that as being German. As you know, this discussion has already taken place on the discussion page, and in light of that it is hard not to see your change and revert as uncalled for.--Joel Mc 15:06, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
well, I would agree with this sentence from the discussion above:
I'd suggest to list her as an American Jew since she was stripped off from German citizenship and became later a citizen of the US. An alternative might be German born American Jew.
my other sources are only in german laguage - sorry about that.
--Ot 16:37, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
It is true that she was "stripped" of her German citizenship by the Eleventh Ordinance to the Reich Citizenship Law in November 1941, however, the Nazis could not strip her of her identity as a German Jewish political-theorist. Your suggestion is in fact less clear than the original wording. We could use the wording that she was a German Jew who was naturalized a US citizen, but that becomes a little unwieldly and the article below explains what happened. I suppose the best reference for not changing can be found in the wording of the plaque posted on the house in Hannover-Linden where she was born which reads:

Hier wurde am 14. 10 1906 die deutsch-jüdische Historikerin und politische Philosophin Hannah Arendt geboren. (Eng: The German-Jewish historian and political philosopher Hannah Arendt was born here on October 14, 1906.)[2]

Joel Mc 18:46, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

In a letter to Karl Jaspers wrote Hannah 17. december 1946: "... ob ich Deutsche oder Jüdin sei. Ehrlich gesagt, es ist mir persönlich egal. ... Ich möchte sagen: Politisch werde ich immer nur im Namen der Juden sprechen, sofern ich gezwungen bin meine Nationalität anzugeben. ..." Have I to translate it Joel?--Ot 18:00, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

co comment?--Ot 07:56, 8 November 2007 (UTC)
Haven't read enough yet from and about Arendt to give a well founded opinion. Let me try some translations. The article on de.wikipedia starts:

Hannah Arendt (Johanna Arendt, * 14. Oktober 1906 in Linden, heute Teil von Hannover; † 4. Dezember 1975 in New York) war eine jüdische Publizistin und Gelehrte deutscher Herkunft. (Eng: ... was a jewish writer and scholar of German origin.)

The letter to Jaspers reads: "Whether I'm a German or a Jew. Honestly said, for me personally, it is all alike ... I want to say: I will always speak in the name of the Jews, if I'm forced to give my nationality, ...."
And I think Ot's interpretation of this quote is, that her point of view is the Jewish perspective, because she was attacked as a Jew from the Germans.
--Schwalker (talk) 00:22, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Prize

There's a Hannah Arendt Prize: [3], de:Hannah-Arendt-Preis. —Ashley Y 04:18, 6 February 2008 (UTC)