Hannah Arendt and the limits of philosophy Book

Copyright Journal of Women's History, Indiana University Press Autumn 1998

Larry May and Jerome Kohn, eds. Hannah Arendt: Twenty Years Later. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997. viii + 384 pp. ISBN 0-262-13319-9 (cl); 0-26263182-2 (pb).

In their new volume, May and Kohn present essays by fifteen authors reassessing many of Arendt's most pivotal and provocative writings. The contributors go beyond merely reexamining Arendt's positions with the aid of hindsight to probe current debates concerning issues of political philosophy, ethics, identity, and modernity. The first section (three essays) examines Arendt's views on political action, radicalism, pluralism, and reason. The next section (five essays) investigates her writings on ethics and "the banality of evil." The third section (four essays) considers Arendt's understanding of the relationship between the self and humanity. Finally, the last section (three essays) analyzes her conception of gender and identity, in particular as it intersects with religious identity, and the relationship between her positions and more recent feminist scholarship. Together these essays underscore the ongoing relevance and importance of Arendt's writings for scholars across the disciplines.

Michelle Mouton