HANNAH ARENDT, A QUESTÃO JUDAICA E A FORMAÇÃO DE UMA FILÓSOFA EM TEMPOS SOMBRIOS

Abstract

Starting from the 1920s and 1930s, Hannah Arendt developed a deep interest in the Jewish question, which led to the emergence of a political philosophy concerned with the roots, patterns, and origins of totalitarianism. In this sense, she understood that the totalitarian project differed from all existing political models, emerging from the split and crisis between Western philosophical tradition and political action. Despite having extensively debated this issue with authors such as Karl Jaspers, Gershom Scholem, and Heinrich Blücher, the philosopher remained faithful to her stance, engaging politically in defense of Jewish rights. In this text, we explore the rise of Hannah Arendt as a political philosopher in dark times, demonstrating how she understood totalitarianism and its implications for the Jewish question. We mainly draw upon Arendt's political writings, as well as biographical references and works that specifically address the Jewish issue in her thought. We conclude that Arendt’s analysis of the Jewish question was a central aspect of her work, allowing her to approach anti-Semitism as a political ideology and examine the links between Jews and social and state institutions. The philosopher did not limit her investigation to the German context, but sought to expand its scope to other fields, such as Soviet Stalinism. From this, her philosophy, grounded in “thinking without banisters,” proposed a courageous, clear, and critical view of reality, focusing on the Jewish question as an inquiry into the role of Jews in history and in the fight against totalitarianism.