“马克思在以往的大思想家中独一无二,他不仅使得我们去关注今天还没有能摆脱的那种困境,而且……也可以这么说,他为我们提供了能回归传统的可靠的足迹。”这段文字是阿伦特在完成《极权主义的起源》一书之后写的。在《极权主义的起源》中,阿伦特对极权主义及其意识形态进行了批判,认为这是引起第二次世界大战的思想渊源。在完成这本书之后,阿伦特将视线投向了马克思,一方面她认为必须将马克思同具有极权主义倾向的斯大林主义分离开来;另一方面她认为,要摆脱我们今天所处 “Marx was unique among the great thinkers of the past, and he not only led us to focus on the predicament that we have not been able to escape today, but ... so to speak, he has provided us with a solid footprinting of tradition that will return to tradition.” “ This text is written by Arendt after completing the book The Origin of Totalitarianism. In ”The Origins of Totalitarianism," Arendt criticized totalitarianism and his ideology, believing it to be the ideological source of the Second World War. After completing this book, Arendt turned his attention to Marx, on the one hand she considered it necessary to separate Marx from Stalinism which had the tendency toward totalitarianism; on the other hand, she thought it necessary to get out of the place where we are today