The Life of the Mind (Combined 2 Volumes in 1) by Hannah Arendt (1981)

--Part 2, On Willing, about history of notion of free will from Stoics, through St. Augustine, etc.

The Life of the Mind, Hannah Arendt's voyage into the realm of invisible mental activities, was originally conceived of in two volumes, the first on Thinking and the second on Willing and Judging. Arendt, however, died before completing (or even formally starting) Judging.

Thinking covers ground that will likely be familiar to readers of Arendt's Between Past and Future and Responsibility and Judgment (particularly her essay "Some Questions of Moral Philosophy"). Where Arendt breaks new ground is by reapproaching the realm of metaphysics, not so much to rescue it from its somewhat dubious status but to integrate it more solidly within the framework of philosophy. To this end, Arendt suggests that metaphysics is not outdated but often times "implausible." A new approach to metaphysics and its reintegration into philosophy requires that philosophers ask new, plausible questions. With this goal in mind, Arendt is able to quiet concerns about the two-world theory (a fallacy anyway, she argues) and offers a compelling argument on the primacy of appearances (which turns out to be not as positivist as you might think). From this unlikely point Arendt is able to bring us back to the world of invisibles and ask such questions as what makes us think and where we are when we do it. Arendt accomplishes this through some of her familiar mainstays--etymological studies of the words we use to talk about thinking and our Greek and Roman philosophical inheritances on the subject. Of course, numerous references to Kant abound (the structure of The Life of the Mind was intended to mirror Kant's Critiques), and a thoughtful evaluation of Arendt's "thinker par excellence," Socrates, surfaces again in this work.

The second part of this work, Willing, provides a comprehensive philosophical history on the subject, stretching from Epictectus through Nietzsche and Heidegger. With so much history, what is missing from this volume is Arendt's sparkling originality of thought, present throughout every page of works like The Origins of Totalitarianism. The work feels comprehensive (mainly because it can be rather exhausting at times) but not necessarily as original as one might expect from Arendt.

Also of note is Mary McCarthy's Postface to this work, which provides a fascinating glimmer of light onto Arendt's remarkably private character. ( )