Hannah Arendt on Judgment

Abstract

This paper examines Hannah Arendt's views on judgment as they emerge from her account of political action. The first section outlines certain conceptual presuppositions that pertain to political life. The second section describes the role of judgment as it relates to, and is distinguished from, a variety of other mental faculties. The third and final section offers some critical and evaluative comments and suggests that Arendt's account ultimately fails to answer the most central questions about judgment.