The Human Condition
Decide its fate
The record
Time
An eveningA season368 pages, about 7 hours: the length of 1.1 typical books on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climbArendt begins with the 1957 Sputnik launch, then introduces the labor, work and action distinction developed across six chapters.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live byIn 12 reviews from critics and book blogs, none credit the plot and 12 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else doesJared Henderson’s Substack traces its argument to Heidegger’s Being and Time, also on the shelf.
The case for it
on the space of appearances
“Arendt’s principal and original contribution as a political philosopher is the ontological link she establishes”
Seyla Benhabib · Critique 13/13, 2020 on animal laborans
“society ultimately ends up going back to the risk of being “animal laborans””
a book blog on the social conformism
“I found particularly intriguing Arendt’s observation that such conformism also enables the social sciences”
a book blog on the last chapter
“A passage from the last chapter was especially significant”
a book blog
The case against
on the labor/work split
“I don’t love the labor/work distinction”
a Substack review on the closing chapters
“one cannot help but get lost as Arendt ranges from Christian views of life to”
a book blog on her writing style
“the extra effort needed to adjust to Arendt’s very German way of philosophizing”
a book blog on the concept of action
“This notion may initially appear perplexing, and understanding Arendt’s specific conception of action is crucial”
Luke Dunne · TheCollector, 2023
