The life and work of German political philosopher of Jewish descent Hannah Arendt (1906-75), who caused a stir when she coined a subversive concept, the banality of evil, in her 1963 book on the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann (1906-62), held in Israel in 1961, which she covered for the New Yorker magazine.

American Philosopher is a collection of eight short films by Philip McReynolds, a philosophy lecturer and amateur filmmaker. McReynolds has recorded hundreds of hours of interviews with professional philosophers and other key players in the field to examine different philosophies in America.