This sounds interesting. It is too bad that Arendt's two most widely referenced works are the ones on Totalitarianism and Eichmann. Of far greater permanent interest are The Human Condition and On Revolution. Both are worth reading by Marxists. I read both just months before events brought me to my first tentative steps into politics, and probably greatly influenced my rapid transition from merely a discontented to liberal to committed anti-capitalism.
Carrol > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:pen-l- > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Louis Proyect > Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2013 1:10 PM > To: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition; Progressive Economics > Subject: [Pen-l] Heinrich Blucher and Hans Jonas > > Just came back from a press screening of "Hannah Arendt", a film > directed by Margerethe von Trotta that opens at the Film Forum on 5/29. > I will have much more to say about this film that focuses on Arendt's > New Yorker articles on the Eichmann trial but want to mention at this > point that two of the lead characters were professors of mine. One was > Heinrich Blucher, who was Arendt's husband and my professor at Bard; the > other was Hans Jonas, who was my philosophy professor at the New School > Graduate Faculty and a long-time friend of Arendt who broke with her for > a couple of years over her articles that was judged at the time as an > apology for Eichmann (the banality of evil argument was hard for many to > swallow, especially hard-core Zionists like Hans Jonas.) These profiles > on Blucher and Jonas come from the press notes at Film Forum: > > HEINRICH BLÜCHER was born in 1899 in Berlin. The son of a factory worker > who died before he was born, was raised by his laundress mother. He was > drafted into World War I before finishing school, and returned to join > the rebellious soldiers council one of the many Workers Councils who > rioted in the streets when the war finally came to an end. Blücher > joined Rosa Luxemburgs Spartacus League and soon afterwards, he became > a member of the German Communist Party. He had a hunger for learning > but not for schooling. He also avoided gainful employment in order to > read as much as possible consuming Shakespeare, Marx, Engels and > Trotsky. > > Although he was a Gentile, in his adventurous quest to educate himself, > he joined the Blue White, a Zionist youth group. He also worked on > various cabaret and film projects before fleeing the Nazi regime in 1933 > to Prague, and later to France. It was in Paris that he met and fell > quickly in love with Hannah Arendt. After one youthful marriage, and a > second to secure citizenship for a girlfriend, Arendt became his third > wife. Together they escaped via Spain and Portugal to the U.S., and > settled in New York. Blücher lectured at the New School for Social > Research, and starting in 1952 despite his lack of even a high school > diploma he taught at Bard College as a Professor of philosophy. > Heinrich Blücher died in 1970. In one of his last lectures he > anonymously invokes his relationship with Arendt: What counts now is > the mutual insight of two personalities who recognize and respect each > other as such; who in effect can say to each other, I guarantee you the > development of your personality and you guarantee me the development of > mine. This is the basis of all real community thinking. After thirty - > four years together, Arendt found it nearly impossible to imagine life > without her husband. > > HANS JONAS was born on May 10, 1903, in Mönchengladbach. His father was > a textile manufacturer; his mother was the daughter of the Chief Rabbi > of Krefeld. Against the wishes of his father, Jonas became involved in > Zionist circles. He also began studying philosophy and art history in > Freiburg and Marburg, under Martin Heidegger and Edmund Husserl. Jonas > met Hannah Arendt when both were young students, and except for one > bitter but temporary interruption, they remained friends their entire > lives. In August 1933 he immigrated to London; then went to Jerusalem > 1935, where in 1944 he joined the Jewish Brigade of the British Army and > fought against the Germans. I n 1949 he moved to Canada, and then in > 1955 finally settled in Ne w Rochelle, New York, where he had a joyous > reunion with Arendt and joined her circle of friends. He took guest > professorships at various prestigious universities in the U.S., mainly > lecturing on the history of philosophy and the humanities. Their > friendship was heavily strained by a conflict arising from the release > of Arendts articles and book on Adolf Eichmann. They didnt speak for > two years, but Jonas wife Lore finally helped the two old friends mend > their rift. > > My past articles on Blucher and Jonas: > > https://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/heinrich-blucher-and- > hannah-arendt/ > > http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/studying-philosophy-at-the- > new-school/ > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
