A review by outcolder
The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt

3.0

"Human" is too universal a term for what Arendt is doing here, starting with Greeks and Romans and then working through the big changes in European thought that add up to Modernism. There were some moments in the final chapter that were intriguing but all that Plato, Aristotle and the rest of 'em just felt like a misguided attempt at the "master's tools." I had brief flashes of, gee, maybe I should learn these ancient philosophy words, but if anything this book made me want to get even further away from all these cats she references and explore non-Western philosophy and feminist philosophy. I mean, all the stuff she has in here about "animal laborans" and absolutely nothing about the personal being political even in Ancient Rome or wherever was a big disappointment. You'd almost think she was agreeing with Aristotle and others on the merits of slavery and hierarchy. Glad to be done with it.