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Journal article

A democratic consensus? Isaiah Berlin, Hannah Arendt, and the anti-totalitarian family quarrel

Abstract:
Amid the ongoing political turmoil, symbolized by the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, books and articles abound today to encourage us to re-read anti-totalitarian classics ‘for our times’. But what do we find in this body of work originally written in response to Nazism and Stalinism? Do we find a democratic consensus forged by a shared anti-totalitarian commitment? I doubt it. Considering the cases of Isaiah Berlin and Hannah Arendt, this article highlights discord beneath what may today appear like a post-war democratic consensus. I argue that the anti-totalitarian literature of the last century encompassed multiple political philosophies, which sometimes differed irreconcilably from each other.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1017/S1477175617000306

Authors


More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
HUMS
Department:
Philosophy Faculty
Role:
Author


Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Journal:
Think More from this journal
Volume:
17
Issue:
48
Pages:
25-37
Publication date:
2018-02-07
Acceptance date:
2017-10-04
DOI:
EISSN:
1755-1196
ISSN:
1477-1756


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
pubs:732355
UUID:
uuid:21aa50db-db6f-4a03-99d3-117cd532fff8
Local pid:
pubs:732355
Source identifiers:
732355
Deposit date:
2017-10-05

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