Vita contemplativa is Latin for “the contemplative life,” a concept that is most famously articulated in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. The Greek term for contemplation is theoria, from which we derive the English word “theory.” Arendt associates the vita contemplativa with the philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. She claims that each of these figures, despite their differences, emphasized the priority of the contemplation of eternal, abstract truths over the vita activa. This was in direct contrast to the “pre-philosophic” (196) context of the ancient Greek polis or city-state. As its contraposition with the vita activa implies, contemplation is understood by the Western philosophical tradition as a solitary, introspective activity that avoids the distractions of worldly and political affairs. While Arendt’s focus in The Human Condition is overwhelmingly on the vita activa, the relation of the latter to the vita contemplativa is a persistent theme.

Vita activa is Latin for “the active life,” It is typically understood in contrast to the vita contemplativa. The vita activa is the central, overriding theme of The Human Condition. Arendt divides the vita activa into three human functions or forms of activity: labor, work, and action (which also encompasses speech).