Hannah Arendt on Judgment
TL;DR: This paper examined Hannah Arendt's views on judgment as they emerge from her account of political action and concluded that her account ultimately fails to answer the most central questions about judgment, and that the role of judgment as it relates to, and is distinguished from, a variety of other mental faculties.
Abstract: This paper examines Hannah Arendt's views on judgment as they emerge from her account of political action. The first section outlines certain conceptual presuppositions that pertain to political life. The second section describes the role of judgment as it relates to, and is distinguished from, a variety of other mental faculties. The third and final section offers some critical and evaluative comments and suggests that Arendt's account ultimately fails to answer the most central questions about judgment.
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TL;DR: The question of what power is has been implicitly reduced to the question of how power works as discussed by the authors, and in fact any hope of solving the latter presupposes a proper answer to the former.
Abstract: “Power” is the modal concept of politics; nevertheless, as a concept, it is significantly under-theorized This may seem an unlikely proposition, given the frequency of discussions of power; however, for decades the debate revolved mainly around empirical and operational questions, while a proper conceptual definition has rarely, if ever, been thematized The question of what power is has been implicitly reduced to the question of how power works But the two are not the same, and in fact any hope of solving the latter presupposes a proper answer to the formerI will show how most discussions of power – across political science and philosophy, from Weber to Lukes, including Dahl and Searle amongst others – are not conceptual, even when explicitly presented as such, but rather empirical and operational In fact, these discussions revolve mainly around factual implications and preconditions of power, while the presupposed concept does not vary much (with few exceptions, which are anyway untenable on their own merits) Commonly employed definitions can be reduced to a single form, which is tautological: “one has power if one can (=has the power to) do such and such” This circularity is due precisely to the shared presupposition that power is just like a phenomenon or an object, to be empirically observed To better understand the concept of power we should, instead, examine its categorial form – “power” represents not a thing, but a condition under which certain things may be done and thought – corresponding to possibility, as opposed to necessityThe best way to see this is to turn to Arendt, whose often misunderstood idea of power is the key to a proper comprehension of this basic category of politics While the link between power and communication has been a staple of Arendtean studies, it has often been reduced to normative or aspirational understandings, which tend to obscure its deeper significance It is rather the formal aspect of the concept of power which allows us to get right its categorical role in defining politics, including the crucial role of persuasion within it Some implications of this way of looking at the concept – chiefly the stark distinctions necessity/freedom and society/politics for which Arendt is still notorious – seems to be very unpalatable for current social science and political theory However, absent an adequate non-circular definition of power, this way deserves at least to be tried
56 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that a much different political ethic may be found in Arendt's work: arendts theory of action and concept of "world" provide criteria that may serve as practical foundations for making political judgments.
Abstract: Critics of Hannah Arendt's conception of political judgment typically either neglect the complex connections between her theory of judgment and the rest of her substantive political theory or wrongly assume that such foundations for morality and judgment as might be consistent with Arendtian democratic politics may be derived only from her nostalgic and not altogether accurate account of Greek politics. I argue that a much different political ethic may be found in Arendt's work: Arendt's theory of action and concept of "world" provide criteria that may serve as practical foundations for making political judgments. Conceiving and exploring Arendt's theory in this way provide a clearer and more useful way of thinking about the theoretical and practical problems associated with democratic politics and political judgment in a postmodern or post-Nietzschean world characterized by the absence of universal standards or foundations.
31 citations
25 citations
Dissertation•
23 Dec 2015
TL;DR: The contribution of cosmopolitanism to critical thought is evaluated and advanced in this paper, where it is argued that cosmopolitanisms can be regarded as a critical theory with the concept of recognition as its main framework, but also differs from Honneth's theory in its understanding of world disclosure and holding to more universalist and utopian claims.
Abstract: Cosmopolitan thought in recent scholarship is often used in either a prescriptive or a descriptive manner. It is thus most commonly understood as a research agenda for the prescription of various ethico-political projects or a description of the social and political world beyond national frameworks. In both cases cosmopolitanism seems to be mostly understood as a set of assumptions about the social world. This thesis aims to underline cosmopolitanism’s critical characteristics and its capability to engage with the social world in a critical and therefore transformative manner. There has been relatively scarce scholarship on critical cosmopolitanism, a gap that the thesis closes by focusing on cosmopolitanism’s capacity for critical intervention. In this study, the contribution of cosmopolitanism to critical thought is evaluated and advanced. Possessing an unparalleled ability to understand things and change them in the light of universalism, cosmopolitanism can be explored as a kind of critical theory that has a distinct agenda and normative guidance. In order to achieve this, the thesis looks at a version of critical theory that is in certain respects most akin to cosmopolitanism, that is, Axel Honneth’s critical theory and his theory of recognition, and connects the two in a way that shows both the cosmopolitanism’s possession of critical heory’s main features and its differences from Honneth’s critical theory. It is proposed that cosmopolitanism can be regarded as a critical theory with the concept of recognition as its main framework, but also that it differs from Honneth’s theory in its understanding of world disclosure and holding to more universalist and utopian claims. While cosmopolitanism can be understood as being critical, it can also be used as an enhancement of the existing conceptualisation of recognition relationships through cosmopolitanism’s universalist dimensions.
24 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the role of intellectuals was essential in the formation of Finnish cultural policy and for the development of national cultural administration and public arts subsidy system in the country in the period leading up to the Second World War.
Abstract: In this article we argue that the role of intellectuals was essential (1) in the formation of Finnish cultural policy and (2) for the development of national cultural administration and public arts subsidy system in the country in the period leading up to the Second World War. The actions of the intellectuals can be considered as political choices in a contingent socio‐political realm, and arts as an essential part of the signifying system. In Finland, intellectuals remained active in the intertwining areas between the state and civil society. We highlight the impact of their actions especially through a study of archival materials obtained from the State Arts Boards. At these Boards, the intellectuals served as representatives of their own fields of arts in general, and of certain professional and civic associations and societies in particular. These intellectuals acted in various roles depending on the subject matter at hand, and as a result the decisions made by the boards reflected predominantly the i...
18 citations
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Book•
[...]
TL;DR: The Human Condition as mentioned in this paper is a classic in political and social theory, The Human Condition is a work that has proved both timeless and perpetually timely, it contains Margaret Canovan's 1998 introduction and a new foreword by Danielle Allen.
Abstract: The past year has seen a resurgence of interest in the political thinker Hannah Arendt, "the theorist of beginnings," whose work probes the logics underlying unexpected transformations-from totalitarianism to revolution. A work of striking originality, The Human Condition is in many respects more relevant now than when it first appeared in 1958. In her study of the state of modern humanity, Hannah Arendt considers humankind from the perspective of the actions of which it is capable. The problems Arendt identified then-diminishing human agency and political freedom, the paradox that as human powers increase through technological and humanistic inquiry, we are less equipped to control the consequences of our actions-continue to confront us today. This new edition, published to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of its original publication, contains Margaret Canovan's 1998 introduction and a new foreword by Danielle Allen. A classic in political and social theory, The Human Condition is a work that has proved both timeless and perpetually timely.
7,650 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1984
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a framework for strong democracy in the twenty-first century: a conceptual frame: Newtonian politics, an epistemological frame: Cartesian politics, a psychological frame: apolitical man, and a conceptual frame: politics in the participatory mode.
Abstract: Preface to the Twentieth Anniversary Edition Acknowledgments Preface to the 1990 Edition Preface to the 1984 Edition Part I. Thin Democracy: The Argument Against Liberalism 1. Thin Democracy: Politics as Zookeeping 2. The Preconceptual Frame: Newtonian Politics 3. The Epistemological Frame: Cartesian Politics 4. The Psychological Frame: Apolitical Man 5. Thin Democracy in the Twentieth Century: The Potential for Pathology Part II. Strong Democracy: The Argument for Citizenship 6. Strong Democracy: Politics as a Way of Living 7. A Conceptual Frame: Politics in the Participatory Mode 8. Citizenship and Participation: Politics as Epistemology 9. Citizenship and Community: Politics as Social Being 10. The Real Present: Institutionalizing Strong Democracy in the Modern World Index
2,841 citations