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Hannah Arendt

Fifty years after her death, Hannah Arendt’s thinking is more relevant than ever. In this issue, we explore her life and work from various perspectives and invite readers to reconsider her questions about freedom, responsibility, and judgement in light of today’s challenges. In doing so, we ask: what does it mean today to think and act in the spirit of Arendt?

Illustration: Hannah Arendt halb liegend mit rauchender Zigarette in der rechten Hand Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

Life, Work and Legacy

More on Hannah Arendt

“The Origins of Totalitarianism”

The Relevance of Hannah Arendt

The disturbing relevance of Arendt's work is well-known. Nowhere is this more evident than in her three-volume work, “The Origins of Totalitarianism”, published in 1951.

Illustration: Illustration: Hannah Arendt and her book “The Origins of Totalitarianism” Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Marie Luise Knott

    Hannah Arendt’s Power of Judgement

    How can we confront the incomprehensible? How can we arrive at a new understanding of the world and politics after the collapse of all certainties? Hannah Arendt asked these questions with an intellectual radicalism that continues to fascinate us to this day. Our leading article on a thinker who still encourages us to think for ourselves.

    Illustration of Hannah Arendt sitting on a sofa. Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Thomas Meyer

    Action as Freedom

    Hannah Arendt, perhaps the most influential thinker of the 20th century, died 50 years ago. In an interview, philosophy professor Thomas Meyer reveals why her ideas remain so relevant today and how her years in exile shaped this thinking.

    An illustration featuring Hannah Arendt's biography and several microphones in the foreground. Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Unfiltered Thoughts

    The Banality of Smoking

    Hannah Arendt was a smoker – as countless iconic photographs reveal. Katharina Holzmann asks how this simple ritual shaped the philosopher’s thinking.

    Illustration: Hannah Arendt reclining with a cigarette in her right hand, next to her the television tower, the underground and the world clock in Berlin. Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Roger Berkowitz

    Learning to Think Again

    Hannah Arendt warned that real thinking demands courage and solitude. In an age of algorithms, outrage, and fear of speaking out, Roger Berkowitz shows why her voice is more urgent than ever and considers whether Arendt would succeed as an influencer today.

    Illustration of the face of Hannah Arendt. In the background, a hand, mobile phone and screens. Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Flight and Philosophy

    An Intellectual Kinship

    What connects Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin beyond their shared exile in Paris? Sigrid Weigel and Uta Staiger explore their intellectual paths and surprising parallels between the two thinkers – and examine why their ideas are more relevant today than ever before.

    The illustration shows Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin, both in their younger years, with the Eiffel Tower visible in the background. Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Life in Paris

    Eight Rather Happy Years

    In 1933, Hannah Arendt left Germany and fled to Paris. The eight years she spent there before emigrating to the United States had a profound impact on the life and work of the political theorist. Yet for a long time, researchers largely overlooked this period of her life.

    Illustration: Hannah Arendt in Paris Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Life in New York

    Places, People, and Intellectual Passages

    Between exile and arrival, Hannah Arendt found in New York not just refuge, but a stage for her thinking. From cramped rooms to riverside views, the city shaped her intellectual journey — and became the backdrop for some of her most influential work.

    Illustration: Hannah Arendt in New York Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Letters

    The many friendships of Hannah Arendt

    Author Madeleine Thien explores the aspect of Friendship as one of the great and palpable joys of Hannah Arendt’s life.

    The illustration shows Hannah Arendt in the centre, surrounded by hands and letters. Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • An Impossible Relationship

    Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger

    Can you remain loyal to someone who aligned with the Nazis? Hannah Arendt did – and, in the process, wrote a quiet chapter of German postwar history. This was a relationship that tested the very boundaries of thought and morality.

    Illustration: Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • A Series Analysis

    Approaching Arendt's Thinking

    What do the series Andor and Sense8 have to do with Hannah Arendt’s reflections on the banality of evil? Susann Kabisch and Michael Seemann reveal the fascinating connections.

    The banality of evil Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • A Critical View

    The Shortcomings in Political Theory

    In a time marked by the resurgence of white nationalism, Hannah Arendt’s work on totalitarianism is frequently invoked as a guide to our socio-political crises. From South Africa's perspective, however, reading her work reveals a fundamental paradox.

    Hannah Arendt and the fanatics of race Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Chen Wei

    How Loneliness Favours Totalitarian Systems

    How does loneliness affect modern man – and why is it a breeding ground for totalitarian rule? Chinese philosopher Chen Wei analyses Hannah Arendt's thinking and shows how political participation can counteract withdrawal into private life. 

    Totalitarianism and the Loneliness of Modern Man Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Latin America

    Right to Have Rights

    Argentine sociologist Claudia Bacci discusses the enduring relevance of Hannah Arendt's thinking in Latin America and asks who could be considered “stateless ” today. 

    Illustration of Hannah Arendt illuminating a map of Latin America with a torch. Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Thinking and Art

    The Human Condition Today

    Three artists, Milena Zović, Anja Ranđelović and Emilija Đonin, who were selected to be mentors as part of the “Conditio Humana” programme in Belgrade, discuss how they are inspired by Hannah Arendt's work.

    An illustration showing a person in a bot Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

More Hannah Arendt?

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