If you’ve read one work of HanÂnah Arendt’s, it’s probÂaÂbly EichÂmann in Jerusalem, her account of the triÂal of the eponyÂmous Nazi offiÂcial — and the source of her much-quotÂed phrase “the banalÂiÂty of evil.” That book came out in 1963, at which time Arendt still had a dozen proÂducÂtive years left. In fact, at the time of her sudÂden death in 1975, she had in her typeÂwriter the first page of what would have been the third volÂume of her final work, The Life of the Mind. In its two comÂpletÂed volÂumes, she invesÂtiÂgates the nature of thought and action, a preÂocÂcuÂpaÂtion with the relaÂtionÂship between thinkÂing and moralÂiÂty havÂing been fired up withÂin her at the EichÂmann triÂal.
“The Life of the Mind” also appears atop the sylÂlabus, recentÂly postÂed by Arendt biogÂraÂphÂer SamanÂtha Rose Hill, for “206: ThinkÂing,” a class Arendt taught in 1974 at the New School for Social Research. EncomÂpassÂing a range of philosoÂphers from ArisÂtoÂtle, Cicero, and PlaÂto to NietÂzsche, WittgenÂstein, and HeiÂdegÂger (a figÂure with whom she could claim a more intiÂmate familÂiarÂiÂty than most), it seems to have offered a reaÂsonÂably thorÂough surÂvey of the figÂures we think of when we think of thinkÂing itself.
Arendt had apparÂentÂly adaptÂed some of the conÂtent from the 1973–1974 GifÂford LecÂtures she had delivÂered in Aberdeen, which themÂselves conÂdensed mateÂrÂiÂal from her coursÂes on “Basic Moral PropoÂsiÂtions,” “ThinkÂing,” “The HisÂtoÂry of the Will,” and “KanÂt’s CriÂtique of JudgÂment.”
Arendt’s teachÂing at the New School, in “ThinkÂing” and othÂer coursÂes like “PhiÂlosÂoÂphy of the Mind,” sheds a bit of light on what would have gone into the unwritÂten third volÂume of The Life of the Mind, or at least into the arc of the trilÂoÂgy as a whole. VolÂumes one and two, drafts of which she put into cirÂcuÂlaÂtion among her gradÂuÂate stuÂdents, were called ThinkÂing and WillÂing; the third was to have been JudgÂing, by far the thorniÂest menÂtal activÂiÂty of the set. It would be worth hearÂing from forÂmer New School stuÂdents of the mid-sevÂenÂties who retain any classÂroom memÂoÂries of what she had to say on the subÂject. As for the rest of us, we can at least still do all the readÂing for “ThinkÂing,” then judge for ourÂselves. You can find the sylÂlabus on the Library of ConÂgress webÂsite.
RelatÂed conÂtent:
Take HanÂnah Arendt’s Final Exam for Her 1961 Course “On RevÂoÂluÂtion”
HanÂnah Arendt Explains How TotalÂiÂtarÂiÂan Regimes Arise–and How We Can PreÂvent Them
Watch HanÂnah Arendt’s Final InterÂview (1973)
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities and the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles. FolÂlow him on the social netÂwork forÂmerÂly known as TwitÂter at @colinmarshall.