Hannah Arendt’s thoughts in relation to occupational science: A response to Turnbull

Abstract

In his response to our article “Hannah Arendt’s vita activa: A valuable contribution to occupational science,” Turnbull (2018) outlined some tensions he perceived with our discussion of “her approach to philosophy, politics and science”. In our reply, we express appreciation of his interest in Arendt related to occupational science and the contribution his article makes, as well as clarifying some points in his critique. We argue that Turnbull’s main arguments do not address our primary purpose of presenting Arendt’s vita activa and provide examples of its relevance for occupational science. We thus focused on activity-related aspects of Arendt’s thoughts, to raise awareness of this work amongst occupational scientists. However, we are thankful for Turnbull’s reflections, which broaden the insights of Arendt’s thinking and contribute to a better understanding of human occupation.