Political Practice and Public Space: Hannah Arendt's Political Thought

Author: Tsai Ing-wen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: Hannah Arendt is widely recognized as one of the greatest political philosophers of the 20th century. Having personally experienced the democratic crisis of the Weimar Republic in Germany and the racial persecution under the Nazi regime, Arendt deeply reflected on the dilemmas of Western modernity and specifically explained how the various undercurrents in the modernization process gave rise to totalitarian ideology, thereby driving the terroristic rule of totalitarian regimes. After totalitarianism completely destroyed the effectiveness of Western political thought traditions, Arendt devoted herself to rediscovering the conceptual resources still hidden within this broken and tradition that could guide our practice. She thoroughly analyzed the fundamental situation of modern people and further explored how political action could combine passion for participation with wise judgment in the "post-totalitarian" context, creating a free public space and a stable public world. This book provides a comprehensive interpretation of Arendt's political thought. In the Chinese-speaking world, it is a monograph that systematically explains Arendt's political thought.