Hannah Arendt: Self-Disclosure, Worldliness and Plurality

Mahrdt, Helgard

doi:10.1080/00071773.2012.11006775

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 3 publications

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“…In contrast to many political thinkers, Arendt's phenomenological approach led her to interpret the 'political' as the experience of worldliness resultant from advancing one's perspective, rather than the institutions necessary to enable this type of activity (Mahrdt, 2012). Although the two are undoubtedly connected, her interest is in the openness of horizontal relations between a plurality of people in the public realm.…”

Section: Worldliness Plurality and Freedommentioning

confidence: 98%

The art of inclusion: phenomenology, placemaking and the role of the arts

Lennon

2020

Journal of Urban Design

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This paper extends emerging research on the role of the arts in placemaking by introducing readers to the theories of Hannah Arendt. Specifically, it outlines the value of an Arendtian phenomenological framework for conceiving why, how and in what ways 'inclusion' could and should operate in placemaking. The paper first presents an outline of Arendt's phenomenological approach. An exploratory case study of arts activities in a rural Irish town is then employed to illustrate the explanatory potential of this approach. The paper closes by reflecting on how an Arendtian approach suggests important lessons for placemaking research and practice.

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Section: Worldliness Plurality and Freedommentioning

confidence: 98%

The art of inclusion: phenomenology, placemaking and the role of the arts

Lennon

2020

Journal of Urban Design

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Participation, Perplexity and Plurality: Exploring the Shared Reading of a ‘Difficult’ Poem

Jones

Harvey

2020

Changing English

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“What would I do?”: Political action under oppression in Arendt

Hajkova

2023

Constellations

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The present paper examines the possibility of political action in Hannah Arendt's philosophical framework under the circumstance of oppression. I first analyze Arendt's concepts of self-display and self-presentation in The Life of the Mind as they map onto her division of the human condition into social and political spheres. While society as a realm of selfdisplay provides an outlet for natural human differences, politics is a space for our self-presentation, that is, our chosen way of appearing to others as their equals via action. Since action is the most important-and consequently broadcategory in Arendt, I zoom in on what constitutes specifically political action and argue that the character of political action in Arendt is helpful in our thinking about present-day social and political justice movements. However, I point out that two aspects of Arendt's system complicate the idea of political action as an instrument that should be accessible to everyone. I title these problems as the "denial of self-display" and "denial of self-presentation." I argue that to overcome these limitations of Arendt's framework, we must first recognize that for oppressed groups, navigating both the social and political obstacles involves sacrifices and risks that already constitute political action. Second, we need to understand that our "given" self-displaying identities can become instruments of political action in the Arendtian sense under the circumstances of oppression and discrimination, as embracing them is to embrace the spontaneity and uncertainty of political action. CONCEPTS OF THE SELF-DISPLAY AND SELF-PRESENTATION IN ARENDTArendt's account of the self is grounded in her metaphysics, in which "Being and Appearing coincide" in the sense that "nothing and nobody exists in this world whose very being does not presuppose a spectator" (Arendt, 1971, p. 21). Lacking the quality of "appearingness" corresponds to nonexistence since being perceived by others is what guarantees the reality of both inanimate objects and living creatures of this world.This quality of "appearingness" among living creatures is not passive. We actively seek opportunities for self-display, which captures both our desire to make an appearance among others and our readiness to "take part in the play of the world " (Arendt, 1971, p. 21). Even when we choose to step back from our "urge toward self-display," temporarily withdraw from the immediacy of the world around us and fall back on our mental activities, we cannot achieve a state of reflection free from appearances (Arendt, 1971, p. 21). Our mental processes ultimately always reflect on aspects of

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Hannah Arendt: Self-Disclosure, Worldliness and Plurality

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

The art of inclusion: phenomenology, placemaking and the role of the arts

The art of inclusion: phenomenology, placemaking and the role of the arts

Participation, Perplexity and Plurality: Exploring the Shared Reading of a ‘Difficult’ Poem

“What would I do?”: Political action under oppression in Arendt

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