Arendt: A Guide for the Perplexed

Guides for the Perplexed

by Karin A. Fry

Hannah Arendt is considered to be one of the most influential political thinkers of the twentieth century. The enormous breadth of her work places particular demands on the student coming to her thought for the first time.
In A Guide for the Perplexed, Karin Fry explores the systematic nature of Arendt's political thought that arose in response to the political controversies of her time and describes how she sought to envision a coherent framework for thinking about politics in a new way. Thematically structured and covering all of Arendt's key writings and ideas, this book is designed specifically to meet the needs of students coming to her work for the first time.

Genres: Philosophy

170 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2009

Reviews

[Emma Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read Hannah Arendt . . . I'd suggest you start here first. I have not found Hannah Arendt's writing to be particularly accessible. Maybe it was not intended to be. I don't know. But this book does a really good job of summarizing some of her most significant works, what makes sense, and what doesn't. For example, I had considered reading The Origins of Totalitarianism, probably her most famous book, but chose not to after reading this summary. I did read Eichmann in Jerusalem, however, which I would encourage others to read.

[Jerry]

review text for 1484