Philosophers to Explore Work of Hannah Arendt at St Mary’s University

The Centre for the Philosophy of History at St Mary's University, Twickenham is to explore the work of philosopher Hannah Arendt in a free seminar on Tuesday 6th May. An Afternoon of Arendt will see St Mary’s Philosophy Lecturer Dr Marije Altorf and Richard King, Emeritus Professor in American and Canadian Studies at the University of Nottingham, present papers on Arendt. Dr Altorf will discuss the controversy behind Arendt’s 1963 novel Eichmann in Jerusalem, comparing the texts with the works of two Dutch contemporaries, while Prof King will explore three interrelated issues - the presence of the past in the present; the causal importance of ideas in history; and the various meanings of the "unprecedented" in history - as they also relate to Arendt's contribution to the secularization debate. Prof Dan Stone, Professor of Modern History at Royal Holloway, University of London, will then follow with a commentary highlighting the main themes and drawing out common ground from the two papers. The free seminar forms part of the Future of History: Theory and Cake Seminar Series organised by the Centre for the Philosophy of History, which was launched last year. The seminar starts at 2pm and will take place in the Senior Common Room at St Mary’s Strawberry Hill Campus. To find out more information please visit the website, the Plural Pasts blog or contact the Centre for the Philosophy of History’s co-directors claire.norton@stmarys.ac.uk or mark.donnelly@stmarys.ac.uk.