Powers of Judgment

Reviews / Votes

'At this perilous moment in our history, David Luban has delivered a work of exceptional importance. On one level, the book offers an astute and judicious study of Hannah Arendt's moral philosophy, brilliantly illuminating an overlooked dimension of the great thinker's oeuvre. But more distinctively, Luban proves the equal of Arendt, expounding a novel contribution to international legal theory and offering an indispensable guide to preserving our moral bearing and capacity for reasoned judgment in the darkest of times.' Lawrence Douglas, Amherst College 'Powers of Judgment compellingly shows how Arendt's reflections on evil, conscience, common sense, responsibility and judgment can contribute to contemporary debates in moral philosophy and legal theory. David Luban's exemplary clarity and admirable erudition, combined with his humane care for our fractured world, are evident on every page of this magisterial book.' Kei Hiruta, Waseda University 'For decades, David Luban has been the most important moral philosopher working on legal issues of professional responsibility and legal accountability. Hannah Arendt has been his most important interlocutor. In The Powers of Judgment, Luban brings Arendt alive as he interrogates, elaborates, and critiques her work. This is philosophy as it should be-never merely an exposition, but a dialogue between Luban and Arendt. Through that dialogue, he solves many of the puzzles that have troubled Arendt scholars. Most important, Luban brings Arendt into the 21st century. He begins and ends with Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem; in between, we get a powerfully illuminating inquiry into the most compelling issues of our day: moral judgment, conscience, evil, guilt, common sense, genocide, and international law.' Paul Kahn, Yale Law School 'There are two reasons to read this fine book. One is the illumination that David Luban provides about an important, but elusive, thinker, Hannah Arendt. The other is the illumination gained from engaging with the ideas of Luban himself, our deepest student of the 'professional responsibility' of lawyers. Both are concerned with the absolutely vital topic of what it means to think for oneself-and to judge others-with regard to the dilemmas created by tolerating or being complicit in what one realizes is political evil, and both should be attended to.' Sanford Levinson, University of Texas Law School and Department of Government