In 1957, the Russians launched the first satellite into space, marking the first time a man-made object broke through nature's limitations. In her iconic book The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt made the attempt to figure out the political implications of that seeming achievement. Her conclusion is that the astonishing scientific achievement of unprecedented control over terrestrial nature through the adoption of an outside-the-world ""universal"" perspective has shaped a prevailing mentality that sees the world, in which we have felt at home throughout history, as only optional. This has resulted in socioeconomic and political changes throughout modernity, ultimately reducing human ability to act politically. Many people today feel comfortable in a world shaped by science and technology. But Arendt warns us that there is hope for modern society if we can envision ways to make our active life worldly again. Mihaely's examination of Arendt's thoughts on science and politics stimulates the reader to rethink the authenticity of their freedom today.
Industry Reviews
“Zohar Mihaely’s Man Confronts Himself Alone manifests a generating affinity between its author and Hannah Arendt. Here the last part of Arendt’s Human Condition, composed from her own reflected experience of the twentieth century, is transported into our temporal presence. In the universal perspective of today’s physical science, we discover ourselves alienated from the artifice we ourselves have built: as human beings we forsake our bearings in a human world. Man confronts himself alone—indeed he does.”
—Jerome Kohn, trustee, Hannah Arendt Blücher Literary Trust
“Zohar Mihaely brings us to a renewed thought about the freedom and liberty of citizens in the current era through the historical-philosophical theory of Hannah Arendt. Moreover, the author proposes to use her worldview to strengthen the human ability to act politically in a world shaped by science and technology.”
—Michael Mero, independent civil society researcher
“The Arendtian scholar Mihaely succeeds again in providing another informative, insightful, thought-provoking, and practical publication. The academician-practitioner continues to show his breadth and depth of learning as he helpfully explains, summarizes, and analyzes Arendt’s political theories and historical-philosophical method of examining events while also interacting with some of the world’s greatest thinkers before, during, and after Arendt’s lifetime. Relying heavily on the prologue and the last section in Arendt’s The Human Condition, Mihaely is not afraid to give his humble opinion regarding how and why the over sixty-five-year-old work remains relevant and applicable to modern-day science, technology, economics, and politics. With the author’s usual impressive and exemplary succinctness, the slim Man Confronts Himself Alone should be read by anyone interested in how an Arendtian framework applied then, in 1958, and applies now, in 2024, concerning the complex ‘entanglements’ of these four major fields of study. Highly recommended.”
—Francis Kyle III, independent scholar
