Violence and power: A critique of Hannah Arendt on the `political'
Philosophy and Social Criticism 33 (3):343-372 (2007)
| Abstract | In contrast to political realism's equation of the `political' with domination, Hannah Arendt understood the `political' as a relation of friendship utterly opposed to the use of violence. This article offers a critique of that understanding. It becomes clear that Arendt's challenge to realism, as exemplified by Max Weber, succeeds on account of a dubious redefinition of the `political' that is the reverse image of the one-sided vision of politics she had hoped to contest. Questioning this paradoxical turn leads to a critique of Arendt's separation of violence and power and, consequently, her attempt to insulate a politics of friendship from one of hostility and coercion. However, political realism is not thereby affirmed. What is required, instead, is a view of the `political' that accepts the interwoven-ness of violence and power but also emphasizes the normative ideals of moderation and care. Key Words: Hannah Arendt • enmity • friendship • moderation • the `political' • power • realism • violence • Max Weber. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,631 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesAlice MacLachlan, An Ethic of Plurality: Reconciling Politics and Morality in Hannah Arendt. History and Judgment: IWM JVF Conference Vol. 21.
A. D. Barder & F. Debrix (2011). Agonal Sovereignty: Rethinking War and Politics with Schmitt, Arendt and Foucault. Philosophy and Social Criticism 37 (7):775-793.
Bat-Ami Bar On (2002). The Subject of Violence: Arendtean Exercises in Understanding. Rowman and Littlefield.
Hannah Arendt (2000). The Portable Hannah Arendt. Penguin Books.
Peg Birmingham (2011). Arendt and Hobbes: Glory, Sacrificial Violence, and the Political Imagination. Research in Phenomenology 41 (1):1-22.
Phillip Birger Hansen (1993). Hannah Arendt: Politics, History and Citizenship. Stanford University Press.
Roger Berkowitz (ed.) (2010). Thinking in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt on Ethics and Politics. Fordham University Press.
Patricia Owens (2009). Between War and Politics: International Relations and the Thought of Hannah Arendt. OUP Oxford.
Irving Louis Horowitz (2012). Hannah Arendt: Radical Conservative. Transaction Publishers.
Garrath Williams (2011). Hannah Arendt on Power. In Keith Dowding (ed.), Encyclopedia of Power. Sage.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads82 ( #9,240 of 548,972 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,511 of 548,972 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
