A study in which Hanna Pitkin traces Arendt's notion of "the social" from her earliest writings to The Human Condition and beyond.
A study in which Hanna Pitkin traces Arendt's notion of "the social" from her earliest writings to The Human Condition and beyond.
"The European intellectual Hannah Arendt worried about the tendency of social structures to take on a life of their own and paralyze individual action. Pitkin . . . is determined to trace our problems to the actions of individuals. This book is thus a battle of wits. . . . [A] vivid sketch of the conflict between two basic outlooks."—Library Journal
"[O]ne leaves this book feeling enriched and challenged. Pitkin prompts us to rethink our understanding of Arendt and to demythologize the pervasive sense of political helplessness Arendt herself sought so hard to articulate. . . . [A] cause for celebration."—Peter Baehr, Times Literary Supplement
"[Arendt] is certainly among the most original and outstanding political theorists of the twentieth century. . . . It is difficult to imagine a hostile critic examining more effectively than Pitkin . . . Arendt's concept of the social, for hostility would inhibit the acquisition of the mastery of Arendt's texts that Pitkin displays at every turn."—Peter Berkowitz, New Republic
Hanna Fenichel Pitkin is a professor emerita of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of The Concept of Representation, Fortune is a Woman, and Wittgenstein and Justice. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.