The life of the spirit

Arendt's last book complements the reflection on human existence and raises arguments to answer questions about its origin, temporal dimension and what makes us think.

The Life of the Mind , Hannah Arendt's final work, interrupted by her death in 1975, presents an examination of the spiritual activities of thinking , willing , and judging , organized into three volumes, collected in this single book. The work addresses the individual, considering the aspects of their existence least conditioned by their presence in the world. Thus, each of these three activities depends on a kind of spiritual withdrawal from direct contact with the things of the world, which constitutes the condition for reflection and discourse on them.

Thus, the volume on thinking draws on extensive material to answer questions about the position of this activity in the world of appearances, its origins (what makes us think?), and the temporal dimension in which the thinking subject moves. The volume dedicated to willing reviews the prehistory of the notion of will in ancient philosophy, examines the discovery of this faculty in the Christian period and its central position in modern philosophy, highlighting the questioning of this centrality in contemporary philosophy. At this point, it draws attention to the need to define a notion of freedom that encompasses political meaning. The volume on judging could not be completed. Mary McCarthy, Arendt's friend and executor, decided to fill this gap by including excerpts from the author's lectures on Kant's philosophy, in which she hoped to find sources for examining the faculty of judgment.

Even though it was written for an audience of philosophy students, The Life of the Mind is written in Arendt's characteristically lively and fluid style, which attracts the attention of a much wider audience interested in the most relevant intellectual debates of our time. The excellent translation, completed over a decade ago by a group of scholars, has been revised for this edition.

“One of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century.” — The Boston Globe

“This book may seem daunting, but don't be fooled, it is a majestic work of profound humility and seriousness, and radiant imagination.” — Kirkus Review

“The most fascinating […] and most thought-provoking book Hannah Arendt ever wrote” — The New York Times Book Review