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A review by izcanbeguscott
The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I'm in a bit of a rut with this one right now. Personally, while I was reading the book, Arendt really seemed to be hitting something that I felt was true. We have seemed to have de-emphasized the importance of politics as it was originally meant - the daily interactions and meaning making that happens with other people as equals, not raw facsimiles we fight online to appeal to our in-group. We have prioritized a life where we work mindlessly for reproduction for the sake of reproduction, and have forgotten the human potential as a collective, as an active people.
However, after a couple days of reflecting and reading some secondary perspectives, there were some pretty devastating elbow drops from other theorists that make me somewhat hesitant to agree that this whole piece was cohesively great. I think Byung Chul Han makes the most devastating assertion in The Scent of Time, in that Arendt is absolutely wrong about the vita contemplativa. We are currently living in a society totally incapable of reflecting on itself, and we have prioritized action in such a way that makes stopping for even a second seem like a waste of time. Industrialists rule the world, and they certainly don't want their workers thinking. Trying to assert that the contemplative hasn't been totally wrung out seems to be missing what life is like for the average person.
As well, the Youtuber I was doing the read along pointed out that this book treads water for forever; it did not need to be 400 pages. All of Arendt's best assertions are basically in the last 150 pages, leaving the rest as basically good table setting. I looked over my notes, and my annotations basically skyrocket once the action chapter hits.
Worthwhile for its introduction to the world of labour/action/thought which is a very interesting lane to chase down, but Arendt trips a bit in her presentation here.
However, after a couple days of reflecting and reading some secondary perspectives, there were some pretty devastating elbow drops from other theorists that make me somewhat hesitant to agree that this whole piece was cohesively great. I think Byung Chul Han makes the most devastating assertion in The Scent of Time, in that Arendt is absolutely wrong about the vita contemplativa. We are currently living in a society totally incapable of reflecting on itself, and we have prioritized action in such a way that makes stopping for even a second seem like a waste of time. Industrialists rule the world, and they certainly don't want their workers thinking. Trying to assert that the contemplative hasn't been totally wrung out seems to be missing what life is like for the average person.
As well, the Youtuber I was doing the read along pointed out that this book treads water for forever; it did not need to be 400 pages. All of Arendt's best assertions are basically in the last 150 pages, leaving the rest as basically good table setting. I looked over my notes, and my annotations basically skyrocket once the action chapter hits.
Worthwhile for its introduction to the world of labour/action/thought which is a very interesting lane to chase down, but Arendt trips a bit in her presentation here.