“The philosophy of Hobbes, it is true, contains nothing of modern race doctrines, which not only stir up the mob, but in their totalitarian form outline very clearly the forms of organization through which humanity could carry the prerequisite for all race doctrines, that is, the exclusion in principle of the idea of humanity which constitutes the sole regulating idea of international law. With the assumption that foreign politics is necessarily outside of the human contract, engaged in the perpetual war of all against all, which is the law of the "state of nature," Hobbes affords the best possible theoretical foundation for those naturalistic ideologies which hold nations to be tribes, separated from each other by nature, without any connection whatever, unconscious of the solidarity of mankind and having in common only the instinct for self-preservation which man shares with the animal world. If the idea of humanity, of which the most conclusive symbol is the common origin of the human species, is no longer valid, then nothing is more plausible than a theory according to which brown, yellow, or black races are descended from some other species of apes than the white race, and that all together are predestined by nature to war against each other until they have disappeared from the face of the earth.”
Quote by Hannah Arendt
Work
The Origins of Totalitarianism
Browse quotes and source details for this work. more
Author
You May Also Like
Source: Selections from political writings: 1921-1926
Source: The Origins of Totalitarianism
Source: Justine, or The Misfortunes of Virtue
Source: Suite Française
“De la culture et de la fortune, voilà le bourgeois.”
Source: The Magic Mountain
“Hold fast to faith; things can change—miraculously, and in your favor.”
Source: The Light in the Heart
Source: A Theory of Literary Production
Source: Steppenwolf
Source: The Barber of Seville / The Marriage of Figaro / The Guilty Mother
Source: Letter 19