QUILTING POINTS:

 Hannah Arendt, with few illusions, invites us to think about and live [life] in the present, of course, but always with forgiveness and promise that are the very basis of an optimal political action - Julia Kristeva, Hannah Arendt: Life is a Narrative For our third meeting we'll take a closer look at Arendt's The Human Condition , focusing on how her concept of "Action" is imagined as that which can revitalise the public sphere.  #3 The Human Condition (2): Action, 03/11/2016, 5–7pm Primary reading:  Hannah Arendt, excerpts from 'Action',  The Human Condition (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1998), pp. 220-247.  Click here for PDF . Location:  LHRI, Seminar Room 1 

[ The Human Condition ] is a primer on how to think about and evaluate the res publica , the public things; how to protect them once they've been identified; and how to live a political life. - Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Why Arendt Matters After gaining an idea of Arendt's worldview in the last session, we now move on to one of Arendt's more in-depth works, which she described herself as a 'book on political theories'. In The Human Condition, Arendt rethinks key political concepts – in particular, labour, work, and action – giving them new definitions from the vantage point of 'post-totalitarian' society. As the first of two sessions on The Human Condition , our next meeting will focus on Arendt's (re)definition of the public and the private realm, and thus of political life in relation to each. #2 The Human Condition (1): The Private and the Public Realm – 20/10/2016, 5–7pm Primary reading:  Hannah Arendt, ' Vita Activa and t