The Human Condition, 2nd Edition 2nd Edition

Exactly as described, and was delivered sooner than expected. Thank you.

I enjoyed the contents of the book. At times I understood that they were repetitive. However, the message was clearly understood

I was afraid I might not be able to find a copy of this book published so long ago. It came in very good shape. Thanks so much! I'm really enjoying reading the work of Hanna Arendt. She's long gone, but her thoughts are very appropriate and timely for our times.

Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition is a difficult work. Like a Henry James novel, its sentences often shift meaning with their final clause making it necessary to read each line twice.But the overall theme is relatively within reach. Rising out of the phenomenological tradition, Arendt distinguishes three kinds of human behavior: the biological, the world of artifacts, and the world of action. The biological corresponds to sustenance and reproduction, artifacts refers to the tools and goods we surround ourselves with, while action is the realm of the public square where we exercise our highest potential and freedom.Relying heavily on the figures fromthe cultural apogee of ancient Athens—Pericles, Socrates, Thucydides, Plato and Aristotle—the book can make for particularly difficult reading for those not well versed classically.But it’s an attractive reading of human nature—exalted above animal needs to participate in persuading, leading and collective action. Its ideal harkens back less to mass democracy and more to the life of the Ancient Greek polis. So while it resonated with contemporaries of organized movements like African-American civil rights activists, it does little to provide a historical or scientific basis for how the life of political action is the highest of our activities. This seems to me, who is by no means a philosophical authority, like a perennial problem with phenomenologically based accounts.But I enjoyed reading it, mostly, and was encouraged enough by her insights to plan on reading the Origins of Totalitarianism later this year. Those wanting a more dynamic civil society in the West should certainly consider reading this as a foundational text. But for the merely intellectual interested, other works of Arendt are probably more germane to our era.

This is one of my favorite books from political philosopher Hannah Arendt. The book seller provided a very nice copy, too.

Arendt is challenging, unorthodox, and prescient in this too-hard-to-qualify genre of a work. Without naming the Holocaust, she is always talking about the Holocaust; without knowing it, she predicted the moment we're living in now.This is one for a class or group. She's on my short list of "don't go there alone," but I'm so glad that I've finally read her and this seminal work.

A philosophical historic scientific analysis of human condition that dives deep into the essence of western thought. Very provocative stimulating read that leaves you contemplating life and modernity. One of my favorite books ever.

brilliant writing and incredibly refined concepts. I highly recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in political philosophy and philosophy in general.