Topics in German Intellectual History: Hannah Arendt: Freedom and the Public Sphere

The seminar is devoted to the work of Hannah Arendt, which has gained new topicality in recent years. This is true of her relentless descriptions of flight and statelessness, her analysis of the aporia of human rights, and her reflections on the relationship between politics and truth. It is also true of two ideas that are fundamental for all her critical interventions: the idea of decidedly political freedom and the idea of a public "space of appearance" in which such freedom can unfold. The seminar explores the Arendtian net of concepts and discuss whether - and if so, how - it can be reconfigured to meet the challenges of today.