Ep. 269: Arendt on Totalitarianism (Part One)

Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview. On "On the Nature of Totalitarianism" and On the Origins of Totalitarianism ch. 13 (both from 1953). Is totalitarianism just an especially virulent form of tyranny, or something unique to the modern age? Arendt says that unlike other forms of government, totalitarianism is not animated by an active psychological principle that motivates its participants. Instead terror makes citizens incapable of agency altogether. The post Ep. 269: Arendt on Totalitarianism (Part One) first appeared on The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast.