On Arendt's thought

Abstract

This article intends to highlight some of Arendt´s most famous and widely discussed ideas, such as the banality of evil, the nature of totalitarian terror, public realm, her strict distinction between thinking and acting, in order to understand her conceptions of history and political judgement. Is the latter the bridge between the activities of thought and political action? My effort in this essay is to show how Arendt was looking for an authentic way of political life, since the beginning of her work, which still fell beyond the scope of her most sensitive commentators. I also address what, precisely, Arendt meant by her idea of a reflexive judgement, an idea that has proved enormous suggestive yet which remains elusive.