HTH 1002 History of Thought II Spring 2017

1. Hannah Arendt
HTH 1002 History of Thought II
Kara Heitz

2. Hannah Arendt
• Jewish, German, American political
philosopher
• Fled Nazi Germany
• Themes: the nature of power, political
action, thinking & judging, democracy,
authority, and totalitarianism
• Major works:
• Origins of Totalitarianism (1951)
• The Human Condition (1958)
• Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the
Banality of Evil (1961)
• On Revolution (1963)
• On Violence (1970)

4. Is Arendt Relevant in the Trump Era?
• “How Hannah Arendt’s classic work on totalitarianism illuminates
today’s America”
• “Why the world is turning to Hannah Arendt to explain Trump”
• “She Called Out Trump’s Lies Decades Ago”
• “What Those Who Studied Nazis Can Teach Us About The Strange
Reaction To Donald Trump”
• “Totalitarianism in the age of Trump – Lessons from Hannah Arendt”
• “Trump could destroy public discourse and lead to someone worse,
according to Hannah Arendt's philosophy”
• “You don’t know Hannah Arendt … But pretending to has become the
favorite activity of the left.”

5. Totalitarianism
• Definition
• Left & right wing versions
• Arendt’s view
• Totalitarianism v. Tyrannical regimes
• How Toto achieved/maintained:
• Classes into masses
• Propaganda
• Terror
• Psychology of supporting Toto
movement

6. Arendt, Totalitarianism, and Trump
Group Questions:
1. How is (or is not) Arendt useful
in understanding the Trump
administration and the current
political climate? What specific
arguments of Arendt’s can be
used to explain Trump-era
politics, according to the
article?
2. How is Arendt not useful to
help explain Trump, according
to the article?
3. Do you agree or disagree with
the article’s positions? Why or
why not?