The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Brilliant. Odd and unique but brilliant.

When I was in grad school Arendt wasn't treated as a necessary part of the canon. It's only been in the last decade that I've read her. And her reputation seems to be growing.

At the beginning she states as her goal to reconsider "the human condition from the vantage point of our newest experiences and our most recent fears" with the aim of getting us "to think what we are doing."

What follows is a careful review of the philosophical tradition and what can be learned about it to help us better understand human life and what we have arrived at in the contemporary era. Near the end she reveals her fears that we are headed to an time of tranquilized passivity but hopes that at least some people will think about what's happening and reorganize our political life.

There isn't a clear political program here, but a desire for humanity to better understand itself in order to then reimagine our political arrangements for our contemporary age.

And unlike some of the reviews, I found it a quick and easy read. Her arguments build slowly and carefully.

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