ABSTRACT
Political Philosophy in the Moment presents Hannah Arendt’s political theory as a “philosophy of the moment.” The Introduction clarifies that this philosophy cannot be adequately engaged by recalling the truth about philosophies, for then we are denied the moment when we may philosophize, when texts and the philosophers who read them may say something new. The way to enter this moment, in that case, is to conceive of philosophy as simply telling stories, which is the odd format of the book. Then, we can not only repeat Arendt’s encounters with her major influences in order to understand her philosophy but also we can repeat her thinking such that we inherit her philosophy and our own right to philosophize. The Introduction briefly introduces this approach by recounting “being in the moment” as portrayed in the film American Beauty, and it introduces Arendt’s influences, those she held responsible for knocking us out of the moment (Plato, Aristotle, liberalism and historicism) and those that helped her chart a way back (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Heidegger and Benjamin).
