scholarly journals Hannah Arendt’s Hidden Phenomenology of the Body

Human Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles des Portes
Keyword(s):  
Political Action ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
The Body ◽  
German Version ◽  
Phenomenology Of The Body ◽  
Private Matter ◽  
The Human Condition

AbstractAmongst the Arendtian scholars, there is almost a consensus on Arendt’s supposedly reluctance to the question of the body. The Arendtian body is said to belong to the unpolitical realm of necessity, in other words, the body is a private matter that should not appear in public. It is antipolitical. However, in this paper, I want to suggest that there is a possibility to outline a phenomenology of embodied political action in what I think to be Arendt’s hidden phenomenology of the body. To make my point, I will first show that what the scholars call the Arendtian body is in fact an Arendtian Body. Secondly, in the German version of The Human Condition, Arendt surprisingly used the Heideggerian term Befindlichkeit (disposition) that, I will argue, outline the basis of a political phenomenology of the body in Arendt’s work. More precisely, I will try to show that political action is embodied, that there is a hexis, a pathos and an ethos of action.

Women's Bodies Between National Hospitality and Domestic Biopolitics

Paragraph ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROSALYN DIPROSE
Keyword(s):  
Government Regulation ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
The Body ◽  
Women's Bodies ◽  
Political Ontology ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The Human Condition

This paper develops a political ontology of hospitality from the philosophies of Arendt, Derrida and Levinas, paying particular attention to the gendered, temporal, and corporeal dimensions of hospitality. Arendt's claim, that central to the human condition and democratic plurality is the welcome of ‘natality’ (innovation or the birth of the new), is used to argue that the more that this hospitality becomes conditional under conservative political forces, the more that the time that it takes is given by women without acknowledgement or support. Women's bodies are thus caught within the dual poles of conservative government: regulation of the unpredictable expressions of ‘natality’ in the ‘home’ and management of the uniformity and ‘security’ of the nation. The limitations in Arendt's political ontology of hospitality are addressed by adding consideration of the operation of biopolitics and of the body as bios.

Anonymous glory

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patchen Markell
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
William Faulkner ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Reliable Source ◽  
Anonymous Processes ◽  
The Human Condition

Hannah Arendt’s political theory is often understood to rest on a celebration of action, the memorable words and deeds of named individuals, over against the anonymous processes constitutive of ‘labor’ and ‘society’. Yet at key moments in The Human Condition and The Origins of Totalitarianism, Arendt seems to signal a different relationship between political action and anonymity; and she does so in part via citations of the novels of William Faulkner. Using the apparently contradictory notion of ‘anonymous glory’ as a heuristic, this essay reconsiders Arendt’s political thought through readings of the novels she cites, A Fable and Intruder in the Dust. The essay argues that, for Arendt, a conception of action adequate to the scale of modern social power must somehow be both indelibly tied to individual deeds and immersed in a processual field that is indifferent to the needs for meaning or purpose or satisfaction that individuals bring to what they do; and that Arendt’s engagement with this problem both complicates the relation of action to its supposed opposites, and makes it more difficult to conceive of action’s recovery as a reliable source of theoretical or political redemption.

Embodied and Existential Wisdom in Architecture

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhani Pallasmaa
Keyword(s):  
Human Condition ◽  
The Body ◽  
Full Understanding ◽  
Sexual Appeal ◽  
Pedagogic Practices ◽  
The Senses ◽  
Human Embodiment ◽  
The Human Condition

In our culture, intelligence, emotions and embodied intuitions continue to be seen as separate categories. The body is regarded as a medium of identity as well as social and sexual appeal, but neglected as the ground of embodied existence and silent knowledge, or the full understanding of the human condition. Prevailing educational and pedagogic practices also still separate the mental and intellectual capacities from emotions and the senses, and the multifarious dimensions of human embodiment.

scholarly journals Quién es quién en el espacio público: Política e identidad en H. Arendt

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
María José López Merino
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Font Size ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Human Condition

<p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">En lo que sigue presentamos el concepto de identidad del </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>quién</em></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">, que Arendt expone en su obra </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>The Human Condition</em></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">, ligado a la noción de acción política. Presentamos este concepto ligado a tres anomalías que registra la lectura de Arendt: la primera vinculada con la misma noción de política que explora la autora, la segunda vinculada a su posición como pensadora anti-metafísica, y la tercera relacionada ya no con sus ideas sino con su praxis como pensadora: las actividades que la sitúan en espacio público como un quién que tiene algo que decir. Específicamente, en dos momentos peculiares en su escritura: </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Los orígenes del Totalitarismo</em></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> y </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Rahel Varnhagen. La vida de una judía</em></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Palabras claves: identidad, quién, acción, narración, espacio público</span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></em></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">WHO IS WHO IN THE PUBLIC SPACE: POLICITY AND IDENTITY IN H. ARENDT<br /></span></span></em></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This article presents the concept of the identity of the ‘who’, exposed by Arendt in her book The Human Condition, linked to the notion of political action. We introduce this concept related to three anomalies that appear in Arendt’s reading: the first associated to the very notion of politics that she explores, the second linked to her position as an antimetaphysical thinker, and the third related not with her ideas but with her praxis as thinker: her activities in the public space like a ‘who’ that has something to say, specifically, in two peculiar moments in her production: Origins of Totalitarianism and Rahel Varnghagen, the Life of a Jewess.<br /></span></span></em></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Keyword: identity, who, action, narration, public space</span></span></em></p><p align="JUSTIFY"> </p><p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>

This is Who I Am

2019 ◽  
pp. 255-267
Author(s):  
John Logan Schell
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mainstream Culture ◽  
The Human Condition

As the body of comics increases, so, too, does the variety of subject matter. Comics now address profound aspects of the human condition, especially through the genre of memoir. However, it is not enough to note the breadth of memoir topically; it is critical to explore how these stories are told. Memoir in comics creates a space for experiencing the past in a visually dynamic way that both reflects and rejects literal or factual reality, supplanting it with a kind of subjectivity that embodies personal truths. This chapter explores how the medium of comics, through its hybridity and materiality, reveals the fictionality of autobiography in a stylized manner that still connects to personal experience in a way that manages to supersede realism. In addition, through their transgressive nature, comics synergize with voices and identities that move counter to mainstream culture, giving voice to the voiceless.

scholarly journals Apenas questão de gênero?

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (301) ◽  
pp. 44-74
Author(s):  
Antônio Moser
Keyword(s):  
Human Condition ◽  
The Body ◽  
Balanced Approach ◽  
Constant Change ◽  
The Human Condition

Síntese: As discussões sobre gênero se encontram mais acesas do que nunca. Por isso mesmo, merecem atenção. Para uma abordagem equilibrada convém partir dos mistérios do corpo e da sexualidade. Apesar das aparências em contrário, corpo e sexualidade são realidades dinâmicas, sujeitas a mudanças mais ou menos constantes. As biotecnologias acentuam ainda mais essa possibilidade de mudanças até há pouco, ou espontâneas ou efetivadas através de meios mais ou menos convencionais. Por isso mesmo, não podem ser ignoradas. A questão mais importante parece apontar para um diálogo sereno, através do qual se consiga mergulhar um pouco mais profundamente na condição humana. Toda radicalização tende a distorcer a realidade. A busca de um equilíbrio é fundamental neste momento em que a tentação dos reducionismos se faz presente em todas as realidades humanas. E o equilíbrio é encontrado na medida em que se valoriza tanto o esse, quanto o fieri: o que muda e o que permanece.Palavras-chave: Gênero. Corpo. Sexualidade. Biotecnologias. Alterações.Abstract: Discussions on gender are livelier than ever. For this very reason, they deserve our attention. For a balanced approach, we should start with the mysteries of the body and of sexuality. Despite appearances to the contrary, the body and sexuality are dynamic realities, subject to more or less constant change. Biotechnology further highlights this possibility of changes that until recently were either spontaneous or effected through more or less conventional means. Thus, they cannot be ignored. The most important issue seems to point to a serene dialogue, through which we can dive a little deeper into the human condition. Every radicalization tends to distort reality. The search for a balance is crucial at this time when the temptation of reductionism is present in all human realities. But the balance can only be found in so far as we can value both the esse and the fieri: i.e, that which changes and that which remains.Keywords: Gender. Body. Sexuality. Biotechnologies. Changes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document