| FT-52472-04 | Research Programs: Summer Stipends | Simona Goi | Hannah Arendt's Conception of Judgment and the Ethics of Critical Self-doubt | 6/1/2004 - 8/31/2004 | $5,000.00 | Simona | | Goi | | | | Calvin College | Grand Rapids | MI | 49546-4301 | USA | 2004 | Political Science, General | Summer Stipends | Research Programs | 5000 | 0 | 5000 | 0 |
I propose to write the last chapter of a book that develops a political ethics of critical self-doubt to address the tendency toward absolute certainty in contemporary political rhetoric. I juxtapose an unusual combination of thinkers in the tradition of Western political philosophy (Augustine, Calvin, Nietzsche), culminating in the work of Hannah Arendt, which I will study during the NEH fellowship. I argue that Arendt's much praised conception of political judgment can be effective only if it includes the practice of critical self-doubt. By contrasting her philosophical writings with her controversial article on racial integration, I will show why her lack of critical self-doubt caused her failure of judgment. |