Abstract
Abstract This chapter examines Arendt’s 1963 work, On Revolution, which makes the case that modern revolutions—such as the American and French—are radical beginnings of the sort previously unknown to Western political and philosophical thought. It traces Arendt’s strongly republican interpretation of the American Revolution, pointing out the ways this interpretation diverges from the standard liberal-Lockean story. The chapter also describes why Arendt thought that the French Revolution, which had begun so promisingly, went off the rails as its leaders directed their attention and energy away from the constitutional foundations of a new republic and towards the violent attempt to solve the “social question”—the question of mass poverty in France. Finally, it traces the reasons why Arendt thought the American Revolution, while successful in the task of foundation, failed in the crucial task of preserving the “revolutionary spirit” and the love of public liberty that went with it.
Published Version
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