ABSTRACT
This chapter will begin to look in detail at one of Arendt’s most widely read works, The Human Condition (1958). It will outline in detail two aspects of her general argument, firstly her attack on the philosophical tradition, and secondly her critique of modern society. These are key areas of Arendt’s thought as a whole, and the reading of The Human Condition offered here will aim to open up some of the path ways into her thought that will be followed in this study. It will also provide a first point of contact with Arendt’s use of literary examples to elucidate her ideas about politics by examining, in conclusion, her reading of Herman Melville’s story Billy Budd from On Revolution (1963).
