Abstract

The posthumous publication of The Life of the Mind with its discussion of mental faculties is seen by many as a repudiation of Hannah Arendt's abiding concern with the practical and political life of action. It is the argument of the thesis that the vita activa and the vita contemplativa are but two sides of Arendt's attempt to describe, explain and reconcile the many capacities of the human condition. By tracing Arendt's reflections on judgement, I provide a way of showing that the two life-styles can interact successfully and that their "friendship" is an antidote to the potential excessiveness of either