Perils of Invention: Lying, Technology, and the Human Condition

Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) is the leading thinker of politics and the humanities in the modern era and continues to draw widespread attention. No other scholar so enrages and engages citizens and scholars from all political persuasions, all the while insisting on human dignity, providing a clear voice against totalitarianism, and defending freedom with extraordinary intelligence and courage. An activist and thinker whose work resists simple categorization, Arendt writes with a stunning lucidity that resonates with intellectuals and the reading public alike. Her writing continues to delight and inspire, even as she asks us to confront the most haunting questions of our time.

These twelve essays are based on talks originally given at three Hannah Arendt Center Conferences: “Human Being in an Inhuman Age,” “Lying and Politics,” and “Truthtelling: Democracy in an Age without Facts.” The authors have diverse backgrounds—Arendt scholars, public intellectuals, novelists, journalists, and businesspeople—and include Lewis Lapham, Nicholson Baker, George Kateb, Marianne Constable, Patchen Markell, and Peg Birmingham. These essays are based on oral lectures that make Arendt’s thinking as accessible as it is potent.