Hannah Arendt was one of the most influential and controversial political thinkers of the 20th century. This three part class will explore how Arendt's philosophical preoccupations emerged from her experience as a Jewish refugee in the 1930's and from her early writings on Jewish topics. Throughout these three classes we will explore some of Arendt's key philosophical concepts: plurality, natality, freedom, conscience and action.

Part 1: We will read “The Jew As Pariah: A Hidden Tradition,” which explores how the outsider status of Jews in the diaspora was, for some, an opportunity for independence, creativity, and freedom.

Participants are welcome to attend any session and encouraged to attend all three!

Tickets for session 2 are available here and session 3 here.

Mark Goodman received his PhD in philosophy from Boston College in 2000. His area of specialization was 19th and 20th century Continental philosophy. He wrote his dissertation on the relationship between Martin Heidegger and Emmanuel Levinas with respect to their philosophies of language, and how each saw their competing views reflected in the work of the poet Paul Celan. Dr. Goodman taught at Boston College and Emerson College. He is currently a venture capitalist focusing on cybersecurity start-ups in Israel.