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Hannah Arendt apparently said ¡°goodbye to philosophy once and for all¡± and instead preferred ¡°thinking without bannisters¡± (¡°A worldly thinker¡±, Features, 26 February). However, a bannister does provide valuable support when climbing a staircase ¨C quite reassuring after two or three floors in the early hours of Saturday morning.

I think I¡¯d be happier if Jon Nixon¡¯s article had included notional bannisters from Arendt¡¯s work, to support not only my own meagre consciousness but the far trickier (and ambiguous) arena of ¡°thinking together with others¡±. In other words, after a life spent thinking, Arendt¡¯s legacy needs to be expressed as user-friendly practical tools which help others.

Neil Richardson
Kirkheaton