In this sentence, to what does “gave rise to” refer? [closed]
Stripping out the qualifying words may help:
... temper was associated with partiality which clung to details with carefulness, and gave rise to misunderstandings.
This suggests the partiality clung to... and the partiality gave rise to...
Had Arendt wished to imply the other meaning one might have expected:
... temper was associated with partiality which clung to details with carefulness, and which gave rise to misunderstandings.
The insertion of which as a parallel to the first which refers the following clause to temper
The interpretation of the sentence therefore depends to some extent on the reader’s trust in Arendt’s precision of expression. A trusting soul, I favour the first.