Personal dilemma or intellectual influence? The relationship between Hannah Arendt and Max Weber

Tuija Parvikko contends that Weber had a significant impact on Arendt's thought. I suggest that this view is problematic on at least two counts. The first is specific and concerns Arendt's negative attitude towards the ideal type. The second is general: by focusing on a couple of vague family resemblances between the ideas of Weber and Arendt, Dr Parvikko ignores the host of antinomies that are far more conspicuous and significant. In fact, Arendt was anti-Weberian on all vital political axes of her thought. Before I briefly examine these issues, it is worth clarifying Arendt's complex relationship to her mentor Karl Jaspers.