Hannah Arendt's star, whose analysis of the Jewish question and totalitarianism achieved unparalleled notoriety, shines like few others in the firmament of 20th century thought. But isn't there a poignant contradiction in her work? We find in it a critical description of National Socialist totalitarianism, no doubt, but also Heidegger's apology, erected - despite his praise for the "inner truth and greatness" of the Nazi movement - as a hidden monarch of the realm of thought.

The analysis of his works, such as The Origins of Totalitarianism, reveals how Arendt displays a Heideggerian vision of modernity. In The Human Condition, the dehumanized conception of humanity that works, as well as the low esteem that egalitarian societies deserve, also bear Heidegger's stamp. On the other hand, unpublished letters to date reveal that Arendt decided to follow in Heidegger's footsteps even before their famous reunion in 1950. An intellectual affiliation that certainly cannot be reduced to mere love passion and deserves to be taken very seriously.

Needless to say, Arendt does not share Heidegger's exterminating anti-Semitism, an anti-Semitism that the recent publication of her Black Notebooks corroborates. But what about thought, instrumentalized in the opposition - a new modern myth - between a Heidegger, the "teacher", retired to his Todtnauberg hut under the snowy peaks, and an Eichmann, the thoughtless automaton, the confined jester in his glass cage?

Reading the latest book by Emmanuel Faye will undoubtedly cause a theoretical and moral shock to more than one person. Rarely has a philological and philosophical analysis enclosed such an overwhelming criticism of the work of a consecrated author such as Hannah Arendt […], even elevated to the rank of icon by numerous commentators.

Stéphanie Roza, Université Paul Valéry - Montpellier