Rethinking the Past

H. Arendt's historical practice represents the approach Nietzsche called monumental history: the provision of exemplars for the present. Such history invariably involves praise & condemnation. Tradition & authority, as created by the Romans with their constant references to foundations & refoundings in politics, in her view, played a crucial role in the American Revolution. Its success lay in the founding of institutions to express the spirit of freedom. The implicit possibility is the appeal to a tradition of revolution, a constant refounding of freedom. W. H. Stoddard.