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

Not translating quotes, seriously?

The review is of the narration and book preparation for audio, not Hannah Arendt’s text. I very rarely have a dislike for narrations, but the tone of this narration is somehow annoying, didactic, and the strangest of accents are put on random words in phrases, as if a dramatic Victorian novel is being read.
In a move of unabashed elitism, it is also assumed that reader speaks fluent French and German, so there’s no need to translate at length quotes. I’m going to finish it, but I wouldn’t recommend this narration.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

narration

Narration could be less expressive.
Some parts of a text was not translated
Content was thought provoking, I will listen at least one more time.