Why Think? Hannah Arendt and the Life of the Mind
2026-01-28 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-02-11 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-02-25 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER BELOW
Meets Bi-Weekly on Wednesdays: Jan. 14, Jan. 28, Feb. 11, Feb. 25
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org).
This seminar and the Nicklin Fellows are made possible by the First Analysis Institute, the support of In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide (grant #63614) from the John Templeton Foundation, and the generous support of our donors.
Description:
What is “thinking”? This question attracts Hannah Arendt’s attention in her later works. Though Arendt claims that thinking is utterly without purpose and leaves no trace behind, she also proposes that it can provide a protective effect against certain forms of evil-doing in our time.
With that said, what is the practical relevance of thinking, today? Given the destructive, resultless nature of this activity, why bother? In short: Why think? In this seminar led by Prof. Magnus Ferguson, we will investigate what it means to ‘think’ in an Arendtian sense through close readings of key excerpts from Hannah Arendt’s final work, The Life of the Mind, as well as several short essays.
Copies of The Life of the Mind will be provided to all participants. Bi-weekly meetings are held on Wednesday evenings over dinner. Weekly reading assignments are kept at or below 30 pages.
Schedule:

Jan. 14: “Thinking and Moral Considerations”
Jan. 28: Life of the Mind Vol I (p. 69–98)
Feb. 11: Life of the Mind Vol I (p. 141–151, 166–182, 187–193)
Feb. 25: Life of the Mind Vol. I (p. 197–216), and “Karl Jaspers: A Laudatio”

Series Description:
Reading Course
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a student-centered reading course at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading course is usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any undergraduate interested in a shared reading of a great text is welcome to join. No religious affiliation is necessary.

Image Credit: Samuel Bak, “In Search of a Roof of One’s Own” (2017)
