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IN THE HUMAN CONDITION, Hannah Arendt describes modern world alienation as beginning in Europe. First, she believes that with the rise ofglobal exploration, the “discovery” ofAmerica, and the ability to map the world in the early modern period, human beings become less connected with what is immediately before them. They can abstract themselves from a sense ofplace. For Arendt, “speed has conquered space…” because humans can envision themselves as living upon a continuous whole that can be traveled quite easily (Arendt 250). With the invention ofthe airplane, the world can be traveled in no time at all. This shrinks the world, rather than expands it, and increases a sense ofhomelessness for humanity. The Reformation was another important factor in the rise ofmodern world alienation. Arendt believes that with the expropriation ofchurch property, the land that was held in common and farmed by the peasantry becomes more ofa liquid asset. This destabilizes the economy and turns farmers into day laborers who are no longer connected to a specific plot ofland. With the rise ofcapitalism, Arendt believes this alienation from the land spreads throughout the classes because laboring becomes connected to never-ending wealth accumulation, rather than maintenance ofthe private, specific household. Instead ofgaining sustenance, protection, and stability through the private household ofthe ancient model, persons in the modern age seek stability through class membership and citizenship in nation states. Gradually, Arendt thinks that humans view themselves as “world citizens,” further disconnecting themselves from a specific place. For Arendt, this means that the private sphere has exploded into the public sphere, creating the social. World alienation is one factor connected to the rise ofthe social, because alienation from the land is a pre-condition for the weakening ofthe private, and the consequent blurring between the public and the private that occurs in Arendt’s negative category ofthe social. Alternatively, Arendt believes that political action, when it is fully public, is based upon amor mundi, or love ofthe world, because it connects human beings to place and to other people in a meaningful way. Karin Fry Professor ofPhilosophy University ofWisconsin-Stevens Point