Exploring the concept of citizenship, Dana Villa critiques the contemporary emphasis on mere community involvement and political participation. He advocates for a Socratic approach to citizenship that values critical thinking and a degree of alienation as essential for genuine engagement. By promoting a form of citizenship that encourages thoughtful dissent, Villa challenges the prevailing notions of civic virtue and calls for a deeper understanding of what it means to participate in a democratic society.
Argues that political freedom is essential to both the preservation of
constitutional government and the very substance of American democracy itself.
This book examines, among other topics, the promise and limits of civil
society and associational life as sources of democratic renewal; and the
effects of mass media on the public arena.
The complexity of Hannah Arendt's political thought is explored in depth, highlighting its relevance in today's ideological landscape following the collapse of communism. Dana Villa aims to clarify Arendt's major contributions, addressing common misconceptions and misinterpretations of her work. By examining her insights on politics, modernity, and the concept of political evil, Villa provides a comprehensive understanding of Arendt's enduring influence and the importance of her ideas in contemporary discourse.
Introduction -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau: creating and "preserving" a free people -- Hegel as political educator -- Tocqueville: the aristocrat as democratic pedagogue -- J.S. Mill: democracy and the authority of the instructed -- Conclusion
"Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was a philosopher and political theorist of astonishing range and originality and one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century. A former student of Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers, she fled Nazi Germany to Paris in 1933, and subsequently escaped from Vichy France to New York in 1941. The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) made her famous. After visiting professorships at Princeton, Berkeley, and the University of Chicago, she took up a permanent position at the New School in 1967. Renowned for The Human Condition, On Revolution, and The Life of the Mind, she is also known for her brilliant but controversial reporting and analysis of Adolf Eichmann's 1961 trial in Jerusalem-an experience that led to her to coin the phrase "the banality of evil". In this outstanding introduction to Arendt's thought Dana Villa begins with a helpful overview of Arendt's life and intellectual development, before examining and assessing the following important topics: Arendt's analysis of the nature of political evil and the arguments of The Origins of Totalitarianism political freedom and political action and the arguments of On the Human Condition, especially Arendt's return to the ancient Greek polis and her critique of modernity modernity and revolution and Arendt's text On Revolution responsibility and judgment and her reporting of the Eichmann trial Arendt's view of contemplation and the fundamental faculties of mental life Arendt's rich legacy and influence, including her civic republican understanding of freedom and her influence on the Frankfurt School, communitarianism and Marxism. Including a chronology, chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading, this indispensable guide to Arendt's philosophy will also be useful to those in related disciplines such as politics, sociology, history and economics"-- Provided by publisher
An exploration of the life and political essays of 20th century philosopher,
Hannah Arendt. Dana Villa analyses Arendt's pathbreaking studies on
totalitarianism, power, evil, and political theory.
