The Human Condition (Second Edition)

By: Hannah Arendt

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley

Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The past year has seen a resurgence of interest in the political thinker Hannah Arendt, "the theorist of beginnings", whose work probes the logics underlying unexpected transformations - from totalitarianism to revolution.

A work of striking originality, The Human Condition is in many respects more relevant now than when it first appeared in 1958. In her study of the state of modern humanity, Hannah Arendt considers humankind from the perspective of the actions of which it is capable. The problems Arendt identified then - diminishing human agency and political freedom, the paradox that as human powers increase through technological and humanistic inquiry, we are less equipped to control the consequences of our actions - continue to confront us today. This new edition, published to coincide with the 60th anniversary of its original publication, contains Margaret Canovan's 1998 introduction and a new foreword by Danielle Allen.

A classic in political and social theory, The Human Condition is a work that has proved both timeless and perpetually timely.

©1958, 1998 The University of Chicago Press (P)2020 Tantor

Good, but

It is quite interesting, but I highly recommend to have the written text by the side while hearing it. There are several passages that will require more attention and some afterthought of what is beeing said. it is not an easy audiobook.

Amazing

Hannah Arndt is truly one of the most brilliant philosophers of the 20th century. The Human Condition was a work used in a course I took as a philosophy major many years ago, but worthy of a college course in itself. I will have to revisit it a third time to plumb further depths.

Beautiful eye opener.

This book has allowed me to connect the lines of all of my teachings so far. Although it’s a bit “out there” in parts this book it has given me some deep and meaningful insights into codependency that other books on the topic failed to provide.

design reference

To me, as a designer, this book needs to be part of theory in the field of design studies. it helps understanding the ways in which human beings alter the world and the planet.

Terrible hyper-expressive reading

The reading lady seemed like she doesn’t know what she’s reading half the time, a lot of unnecessarily dramatic high pitched emphases. I sped up the audio to try and even those out. It was very hard to follow her voice knowing how Hanna Arendt actually sounds like. This performance was Unnecessarily expressive and emotive. This beautiful philosophical text by Hanna Arendt simply needed a calm and analytic voice. You could’ve easily found someone who sounds like Hanna Arendt, if you looked amongst philosophy students. They’d probably be happy to read it for audible. I will avoid any book by this performer, unless it’s some silly romance novel for entertainment.

one of the greats

A+ narration

i grasped this book better as an audiobook than reading it (the paperback edition is formatted weird imo)

the book is uncategorizable. just brilliant. an insight on every page. very clarifying. this is the hannah arendt i love. she's directly engaging with the history of european philosophy. she somehow simultaneously embraces and rejects that whole tradition

very weird book.

Classic Text by a Unique Thinker

Having read everything this writer has written I can say that her insides are unparalleled. Her writings are partiularly more relevant today when we once again experience worldwide turmoil. A must read!

Wow

Like what I heard, not sure what I heard. Will need to listen to it again. Not a book for the faint of heart. i enjoyed it.

Heavy on theory, light on history

I think with this author her more historically grounded works were stronger then this entry. But there was still some good food for thought.

Poor in understanding human condition(s)

While she is brilliant in depicting totalitarian features of society, Hannah does not understand the basis of human action: the exchange of values. She despises exchange as something that destroys human nature. This is such a mistake that I should have rated this book with 1 star if there were not to find some interesting historical references.