Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: On Violence by Hannah Arendt ISBN: 0-15-669500-6 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: June, 1970 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Castration and Power
Comment: The irony of viewing the natural need of men (and increasingly, women) to view power as dominance over rather than as a part of a coooperative spirit toward mutual goals is the foundation of this articulate and simple philosophy where violence becomes a part of the political and economic landscape. Arendt stopped short of asking to what extent men will sacrifice to acquire the power through violence that is supposedly the motive underlying the methods used. When males sacrifice both their honor and their natural masculinity for power, one wonders what limit, if any, is man willing to condone in himself to "win" the power or money he fervently and diligently pursues. Although supposedly, man comes equipped with the height of survival instinct, it is remarkable how willing he is to castrate himself in pursuit of essentially man made goals that symbolize success, often crippling many others in the process without hesitation, too often, in violation of the religious teachings of compassion and brotherhood. Given this rather historically well documented pattern of acceptance in mankind, it appears the decision to request increasingly more of man's sacrifice for that pursuit tilts the seesaw in the other direction. What man hath wrought, man will deliver in the finest mode of free market principles, leaving us to question whether indeed there are limits to what man ought to be asking other men to do, i.e., to what extent moral and logical principles are allowed to become the modifying influence that limits the scope of that pursuit and the credible measure by which such decisions are made.
Rating: 5
Summary: where is human nature headed
Comment: The most simple questions are the hardest to answer so we leave them to people like Hannah Arendt. Here she writes about the difference between violence in the hands of the state versus violence in the hands of extremist groups or individuals. In other words, how is terrorism different from totalitarianism? Her theoretical conclusions on violence and power are interesting because she reasons that they are opposites: violence is the lack of access to power (and is power then the ability to use violence at any time? I didn't really grasp that). Something about that idea resonated with me the fist time I read this book, and it made me think about the violence in schools like Columbine, and even self-violence in young adults, but she doesn't go into those more psychological areas- only historically and politically on a larger scale-attacking state-sponsored violence. Through this short book she argues intelligently and factually and does not use sophistry or tug at our emotions with wishy-wash.
You should also read her other books and I suggest the Hannah Arednt Reader to get started. The fact that the author was an exiled Jewess who lived during the Holocaust and spent her life as a political activist, and is still able to objectively examine the nature of of violence in the 20th century make her words speak even greater. For me, someone who can take something so evil and complex as this subject, crack it open, get to the heart of it and understand it, and then rearrange ideas about violence in a new, simpler form, may have more to say about stopping it than the spiritual/inspirational leaders who have preached nonviolence in our century like Mahatma Ghandi or the Dalai Lama.
Everyone who is currently nauseated or confused at the state of our world affairs, every student of history should be forced to read this book. Its not morbid, just thoughtful. But- like George Orwell's 1984- pretty scary if you let it get to you.
Rating: 4
Summary: A must-have for any student of politcal philosophy.
Comment: There are few books from college that remain with me 15 years later. This is one of them. Arendt's writing transcends academia. Not only does her philosophy apply to politics but it can easily be applied to all relationships (worker/employer, parent/child, siblings, black/white, etc),as all relationships involve a power struggle. Her general thesis is that where there is lack of power or where power is slipping away, there is greater potential for violence. Lack of power begets violence. Apply that to the current world scene and you begin to wonder exactly how safe we are. In re-reading it recently, I couldn't help think that this book could just as easily be prescribed for management solutions...right alongside The Art of War.
 |
Title: The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt ISBN: 0156701537 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: March, 1973 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
 |
Title: On Revolution by Hannah Arendt ISBN: 014018421X Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: June, 1991 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt, Margaret Canovan ISBN: 0226025985 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.87 |
 |
Title: Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt ISBN: 0140187650 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 1994 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt ISBN: 0156519925 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: April, 1981 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
