Hannah Arendt
1906 – 1975 German-American philosopher, political theorist
The political thinker of totalitarianism and the banality of evil.
- Religion
- A secular Jew who fled Nazi Germany; her concern was political and ethical rather than religious.
- Affiliations
- Taught at the New School and other universities. No secret society.
Arendt analyzed how totalitarian regimes rise and crush human freedom in The Origins of Totalitarianism. Reporting on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, she coined the phrase the banality of evil for the ordinary, thoughtless functionary. Her work remains central to political thought.
Connections
- mentor of Martin Heidegger — She studied under Heidegger, a bond complicated by his Nazism.
- student of Martin Heidegger — Arendt was his student and, for a time, his lover.
In the timeline
- 1940 Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee in Marseille mentioned
- 1951 Totalitarianism as a concept mentioned
- 1951 Hannah Arendt publishes The Origins of Totalitarianism central figure