As part of Tacheles: A ‘BookWalkTalk’ with Hannah Arendt on 15 August

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As part of the ‘BookTalkWalks’ series, a philosopher from Leipzig takes part in a group walk through the city, using accessible language to introduce a book by a well-known Jewish thinker from the past – drawing on locations in Leipzig linked to the book’s themes. As they walk from place to place, participants are encouraged to engage in thoughtful conversation.

On 15 August, the Leipzig-based philosopher Dr Katrin Felgenhauer invites you to discover Hannah Arendt’s famous book *Vita activa or On the Active Life* whilst out for a walk. The ‘BookTalkWalk’ will be hosted by the Leipzig-based walking researcher Bertram Weisshaar.

Katrin Felgenhauer says of Arendt’s work *Vita activa*: ‘In her book, Hannah Arendt distinguishes between three fundamental forms of human activity: work, production and action. Whilst work serves to sustain life and production creates a lasting world of things, action takes on a genuinely political significance: in action, people relate to one another publicly. For Arendt, the public sphere is not a specific place, but arises wherever people speak and act together.

This activity represents a risk, namely the willingness to make oneself visible to others, to take the initiative and to engage with the unpredictability of social interaction. Arendt’s work encourages us to reflect on responsibility, the public sphere and the significance of collective action in a democratic society.”

Hannah Arendt: “Through their actions and words, people reveal who they are, actively demonstrate the personal uniqueness of their being, and, as it were, take to the world’s stage.”

The event forms part of the series ‘BookTalkWalks – Thought Walks: Thinking about the future with Jewish thinkers of the past’, which is taking place to mark the themed year ‘Tacheles – Jewish. Saxon. Human.’ The series of events is organised by Transformatorenwerk Leipzig e.V. in cooperation with the German Book and Writing Museum of the German National Library, the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Leipzig, Denkwege e.V., the German-Israeli Society e.V. (DIG Leipzig) and the Young Forum of DIG Leipzig, Expedition Philosophie e.V. and the University Library of Leipzig – Bibliotheca Albertina. The series is sponsored by the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS.

BookTalkWalk – GedankenGang: “Envisioning the future with Jewish thinkers of the past #2 – Hannah Arendt: Vita activa” with Dr Katrin Felgenhauer (Expedition Philosophie e.V.) and Bertram Weisshaar (Denkwege e.V./moderator) Saturday, 15 August, 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm, starting point: In front of the entrance to the “Runde Ecke” museum, Dittrichring 24, Leipzig.