Frank McLynn
A Monster of Egotism too Easily Forgiven
Hannah Arendt – Martin Heidegger
By Elzbieta Ettinger
Yale University Press 139pp £10.95
This slim volume is a marvel. In little more than one hundred pages Elzbieta Ettinger, a professor at MIT, sheds more light on the controversial political attitudes of the philosopher Martin Heidegger than Hugo Ott did in the whole of his substantial 1993 political biography. The story she tells is a sad but very human one. The book could well have been subtitled ‘Love Is Blind’.
In 1924 at the University of Marburg the eighteen-year-old German Jew Hannah Arendt fell in love with her philosophy teacher, Martin Heidegger, and became his mistress. It seems clear that for Heidegger it was a purely physical affair, and he acted with consummate ruthlessness, keeping his life rigidly compartmentalised. He
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Are iPhones ruining children's lives? A prominent American psychologist thinks so.
@tiffanyjenkins is not so sure:
Tiffany Jenkins - The Smartphone Pandemic
Tiffany Jenkins: The Smartphone Pandemic - The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an...
literaryreview.co.uk
India's 'festival of democracy', or general election, begins next month. Like every good festival, it looks likely to have its fair share of murders and arrests.
@OwenBennettJon probes the state of democracy in India:
Owen Bennett-Jones - New Delhi Confidential
Owen Bennett-Jones: New Delhi Confidential - The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the Search for Democracy in India by Alpa Shah
literaryreview.co.uk
Where is the world's newest narcostate and why is it thriving?
@AdamBrookesWord investigates Asia's meth mecca.
Adam Brookes - Meth Comes to Myanmar
Adam Brookes: Meth Comes to Myanmar - Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Outwitted the CIA by Patrick Winn
literaryreview.co.uk