Hannah Arendt-Zentrum
Heinrich Böll Foundation
Hannah Arendt-Zentrum of the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Center for Philosophy
Antonia Grunenberg
Stefan Gosepath
Marianne Zepp
Peter Siller
Hidden Tradition – Untimely Actuality?
Hannah Arendt 1906-2006
Conference, 5-7 October 2006, Berlin
Programme
In collaboration with the Hannah Arendt-Zentrum of the Carl von Ossietzky University of
Oldenburg and the Justus Liebig University of Giessen, the Heinrich Böll Foundation is
hosting a three-day conference in Berlin to mark the 100th anniversary of Hannah Arendt’s
birthday, from 5 to 7 October. The focus in the individual lectures, discussion rounds, and
debates will be on the tension between the lines of traditions to which Hannah Arendt’s
thought belongs and approaches to that thought today.
Hannah Arendt grew to intellectual maturity within two intersecting milieus: political-cultural
Zionism and the philosophy of existence of the 1920’s, which presented itself as
revolutionary and deconstructivist. Her friends, Ernst Grumach, Kurt Blumenfeld, Hans
Jonas, and others, familiarized her with a context-specific form of Jewish thought. Her
teachers, Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers, introduced her to the in-depth critique of
traditional metaphysics. Like her friends, Arendt was involved throughout her life in a critical
encounter with this “dual” legacy, the two parts of which seem mutually exclusive, from
today’s perspective. The intersections and contradictions between the two streams of this
legacy and the way they are treated today will take centre stage in the first part of the
conference, under the title “Hidden Tradition”.
In the 2nd part of the conference, “Untimely Actuality?”, the focus will shift to the
approaches in Arendtian thinking that might apply to present-day problems and to the
relevance of her political philosophy with respect to the general state of the political and
democracy today. There is still tension in the relationship between social criticism, new social
forms, and the self-empowerment of previously marginal groups on the one hand, and
institutionalized politics and the dominion of law on the other. The processes of globalization
have brought a new dimension to this ambivalence between institutional stabilization and
social dynamics. While the classic nation-state, the exclusionary effects of which were
described by Arendt, remains (thus far) the most important stage for social conflicts, its
influence is diminishing. Simultaneously, the perils and opportunities for the construction of
an authentic publicness have grown. What is the status of the relationship between the state
and politics in an era featuring the fragmentation of the nation state’s power to structure and
a loss of democracy? In the context of the present-day political debate, Hannah Arendt’s
political theory is primarily invoked in the support of “civil society”, the “community of citizens”
or “civic engagement”. Associated with this is a criticism of the “domineering state,” “social
bureaucracy”, and a lack of “civic virtues”. Should one adopt a sceptical stance toward the
state in one’s reading of “The Human Condition” today, or should the latter serve as a basis
from which to defend democratic statehood from its neo-liberal and neo-conservative
opponents? Do we need institutional transformation in order to revitalize the democratic
function of institutions? Can Arendt’s paradigm of the political nation and her republican
approach be made productive with respect to today’s problems? Is it possible to set a
process in motion that will allow the creation of a plural world public in a world coalescing into
one unit both politically and with respect to the media?
Hannah Arendt Conference: Program Overview
Thursday, 5 October 2006
6:30 PM: Welcome
- Ralf Fücks, Heinrich Böll Stiftung
- Antonia Grunenberg, Hannah Arendt-Zentrum of the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
- Stefan Gosepath, Zentrum für Philosophie der Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen
7:00 PM: Opening lecture:
- Jerome Kohn
TRADITIONSBRUCH
URSPRÜNGE UND AKTUALITÄT DES DENKENS VON HANNAH ARENDT
BREACH OF TRADITION
ORIGINS AND ACTUALITY OF THE THINKING OF HANNAH ARENDT
8:30 PM: Reception
Friday, 6 October
THE HIDDEN TRADITION
9:30 AM – 9:45 AM: Introduction to Part 1:
- Antonia Grunenberg
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
9:45 AM – 11:30 AM:
ORIGINS
THE PHILOSOPHICAL REVOLUTION OF THE 1920’S
Delving into the philosophical debates of the 1920’s, one can see the degree to which traditions of
“German” and “Jewish” thought were opening themselves to another at that time in their efforts to
achieve a fundamental renewal of thought. Looking back, the dilemmas this entailed cannot be
overlooked.
- Peter E. Gordon: The Concept of the Unpolitical: Critical Reflections on the Theological-Political
Problem in German-Jewish Thought
- Michael Steinberg: Der kulturelle Stil in der deutsch-jüdischen Kultur der zwanziger Jahre
- Dominic Kaegi: Sinnverstehen und Dekonstruktion: Heidegger und Cassirer in Davos 1929
Discussion
11:30 AM: Coffee break
12:00 – 1:30 PM:
A W AY OF ONE’S OWN
Rahel Varnhagen and Rosa Luxemburg: two separate studies discussing the way in which Hannah
Arendt navigated – at different times – within the high-tension relationship between “German” and
“Jewish” culture.
- Martine Leibovici: Hannah Arendt und Rahel Varnhagen - eine zionistische „Kehre“?
- Idith Zertal: Between the Revolutionary and the Rebel: Rosa Luxemburg and Hannah Arendt
Discussion
Moderating: Antonia Grunenberg
1:30 – 2:30 PM: Lunch
3:00 – 4:30 PM:
PARTINGS OF THE WAYS
THE STUDENTS OF EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY AND THEIR LEGACY
Martin Heidegger, in particular, confronted an entire generation of students with the problem of how to
contend with the German-Jewish legacy in view of the abrupt and violent end of the culture of the
1920’s.
- Hans Saner: Karl Jaspers und Martin Heidegger: Zwei Revolutionäre in der Philosophie – invited
- Manfred Riedel: “Wie für mich die Trennung zwischen Deutschen und Juden begann”: Karl Löwiths
existenzielle Erfahrung von 1920 und seine philosophische Option
Discussion
4:30 PM: Coffee break
5:00 – 6:30 PM
HANNAH ARENDT, THE PHILOSOPHIC REVOLUTION OF THE 1920S AND THE JEWISH GERMAN LEGACY
In a unique manner not fully appreciated even today, Hannah Arendt lay open the aporias of the
philosophy of existence in the 1920’s, evaluating it critically, and transferred central categories into a
new political thinking in the face of the “breach of tradition”.
- Dana Villa: Arendt and Heidegger: again
- Antonia Grunenberg: Hannah Arendt, Martin Heidegger und Karl Jaspers: Wie aus der
Existenzphilosophie ein politisches Denken aus dem Traditionsbruch wird
Discussion
Moderating: Wolfgang Heuer
6:30 PM: Light supper
8:00 PM: Piano recital
STAYING ON THE THEME – FUGUES FOR HEARING, SEEING AND THINKING
Christina Thürmer-Rohr und Laura Gallati: J.S.Bach’s Art of Fugue and Hannah Arendt’s “Exercises in
Political Thought”
Saturday, 7 October
UNTIMELY ACTUALITY?
9:30 AM: Introduction to Part 2:
Stefan Gosepath
HANNAH ARENDT, NEUER REPUBLIKANISMUS UND DIE ZUKUNFT DES POLITISCHEN
10:00 AM: Lectures
VITA ACTIVA
ON THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY IN HANNAH ARENDT’S WORK
- Ingeborg Nordmann: “Die Vita activa ist mehr als nur praktische Philosophie”
- Rahel Jaeggi: “Die im Dunkel sieht man nicht: Soziale Bewegungen und Politik bei Hannah Arendt”
Discussion
Moderating: Marianne Zepp
11:00 AM: Coffee break
11:30 AM – 11:30 PM:
GROUNDLESSNESS
HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISSIDENCE
Arendt thought in terms of political judgment without decision, political action in virtuoso disputatious
concert, thinking with no derivation, a “right to rights” with no grounding in reason and inclusion of the
excluded without a basis of common values. Can one define this groundlessness positively applying
Arendt?
Podium
- Jerome Kohn
- Paolo Flores d’Arcais
- Michael Ignatieff - invited
- Giorgio Agamben - invited
Discussion
Moderating: Carolin Emcke
1:30 PM: Lunch break
2:30 – 5:00 PM:
NEW REPUBLICANISM
INDIVIDUAL – COMMUNITY – INSTITUTION: HANNAH ARENDT AND THE CURRENT DEBATE ON REPUBLICANISM
Arendt defends the autonomy of the political from the reduction of politics to economic calculation and
individual or group interests. In modernity, however, one can no longer dismiss social justice as an
issue belonging to the pre-political sphere. If the social prerequisites for political participation are to
remain secure in the future, one must ask whether and how institutions will be able to ensure that they
do.
Podium
-
Otto Kallscheuer
Rainer Forst
Rita Süssmuth - invited
Jean Cohen - invited
Discussion
Moderating: Peter Siller
5:30 PM: Coffee break
7:00 – 10:00 PM: Closing podium – open to the public
PLACES OF THE POLITICAL
COMMUNE – NATION – EUROPE: REPUBLICANISM AND GLOBALIZATION
Arendt would have asked that we strive for a mundialization of the world as mundus, a worldas-publicness instead of globalization. For where publicness thrives, a public space opens
up, one in which common objects are debated under different perspectives and a “common
sense” is generated. Is the nature of the political changing in that the spaces are growing
larger? Can genuine publicness exist in different places?
Podium
-
Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff
Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Benjamin Barber
Oliver Marchart
Discussion
Moderating: Ralf Fücks
VENUE
Landesvertretung Bremen
Hiroshimastrasse 24
10785 Berlin-Tiergarten
(Bus 200, Bus M29)
REGISTRATION
and further information as of August 7th
botta@boell.de
phone: 030.285 34-235
FEES
12,-/10,- €
6,-/5,- € per day
CONFERENCE LANGUAGES
German and English