Hannah Arendt & Human Rights: The Predicament of Common Responsibility (Studies in Continental Thought)

180 Pages·2006·0.81 MB·English

by  Peg Birmingham

Philosophy | Women’s Studies
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a new reading of hannah arendt’s ir
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“Peg Birmingham’s reading of Arendt’s work is absolutely unique. She seeks h
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nothing less than an ontological foundation of the political, and in particular, the m
notion of human rights.”—Bernard Flynn, The New School for Social Research
Hannah Arendt’s most important contribution to political thought may be her well-
known and often-cited notion of the “right to have rights.” In this incisive and wide-
ranging book, Peg Birmingham explores the theoretical and social foundations of
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Arendt’s philosophy on human rights. Devoting special consideration to questions and
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issues surrounding Arendt’s ideas of common humanity, human responsibility, and
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natality, Birmingham formulates a more complex view of how these basic concepts
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support Arendt’s theory of human rights. Birmingham considers Arendt’s key philo-
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sophical works along with her literary writings, especially those on Walter Benjamin
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and Franz Kafka, to reveal the extent of Arendt’s commitment to humanity even as

violence, horror, and pessimism overtook Europe during WWII and its aftermath. This a
current and lively book makes a significant contribution to philosophy, political science,
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and European intellectual history.
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Peg Birmingham is Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University. She is co-editor
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(with Philippe van Haute) of Dissensus Communis: Between Ethics and Politics and
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co-translator (with Elizabeth Birmingham) of Dominique Janicaud’s Powers of the
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Rational (available from Indiana University Press).
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Studies in Continental Thought —John Sallis, editor

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INDIANA
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University Press

http://iupress.indiana.edu r
Bloomington & Indianapolis ISBN-13: 978-0-253-21865-0
1-800-842-6796 ISBN-10: 0-253-21865-9 i
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Cover illustration: Courtesy of The Predicament of Common Responsibility
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the Hannah Arendt Bluecher
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Literary Trust.
Peg Birmingham
INDIANA
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HANNAH ARENDT
AND HUMAN RIGHTS
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STUDIES IN
CONTINENTAL THOUGHT
JOHN SALLIS, GENERAL EDITOR
CONSULTING EDITORS
Robert Bernasconi J. N. Mohanty
Rudolph Bernet Mary Rawlinson
John D. Caputo Tom Rockmore
David Carr Calvin O. Schrag
Edward S. Casey †Reiner Schürmann
Hubert Dreyfus Charles E. Scott
Don Ihde Thomas Sheehan
David Farrell Krell Robert Sokolowski
Lenore Langsdorf Bruce W. Wilshire
Alphonso Lingis David Wood
William L. McBride
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Hannah Arendt
&
Human Rights
The Predicament
of Common
Responsibility
PEG BIRMINGHAM
Indiana University Press
Bloomington &Indianapolis
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This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail [email protected]
© 2006 by Peg Birmingham
All rights reserved
No part ofthis book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American
University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only
exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
      
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Birmingham, Peg, date
Hannah Arendt and human rights : the predicament ofcommon
responsibility / Peg Birmingham.
p. cm. — (Studies in Continental thought)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-253-21865-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Arendt, Hannah. 2.
Human rights—Philosophy. 3. Responsibility. I. Title. II. Series.
JC251.A74B57 2006
323.092—dc22
2006006223
1 2 3 4 5 11 10 09 08 07 06
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For Clare
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We become aware of the existence of a right to have rights
(and that means to live in a framework where one is judged
by one’s actions and opinions) and a right to belong to
some kind of organized community, only when millions
of people emerge who had lost and could not regain these
rights because of the new global political situation.
Hannah Arendt,
The Origins of Totalitarianism
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CONTENTS
 ⁄ xi
   ⁄ xiii
Introduction: The Problem of Human Rights 1
1. The Event of Natality: The Ontological Foundation
of Human Rights 4
2. The Principle of Initium: Freedom, Power,
and the Right to Have Rights 35
3. The Principle of Givenness: Appearance, Singularity,
and the Right to Have Rights 70
4. The Predicament of Common Responsibility 104
Conclusion: The Political Institution
of the Right to Have Rights 132
 ⁄ 143
  ⁄ 155
 ⁄ 159