Humanity in times of crisis: Hannah arendt’s political existentialism

Abstract

Even in times of crisis, Hannah Arendt writes, all human beings have the right to a humane politics (Arendt 1968 : ix). Such politics should be based on what she refers to as existential conditions, such as natality, plurality, and freedom. This is the core of Arendt ’s political existentialism, something which has made her one of the most significant, but also controversial, political thinkers of the twentieth Century (Benhabib 2 003 : xxiii). If the requirement found in Arendt’ s political existentialism concerning a humane politics is to have relevance for crises also in today’s globalised and complex world, it must still contribute to an analysis of totalitarian ideologies, the depoliticisation of democracy, and the dehumanisation of human dignity.