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The Promise of Politics

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In "The Promise of Politics," Arendt describes how the failure of Western political thought failed to account for human action. The book begins with a twenty-seven page introduction by Jerome Kohn, the editor and actual architect of the Arendt writings which comprise this book.

The first half of the book consists of five chapters. In it, Arendt describes the teachings of Socrates (teacher)and Plato (pupil), an examination of Christianity, a change in Montesquieu's observations, Hegel (teacher)and Marx (pupil)are compared and contrasted, and finally, the "end" of traditional political philosophy. The end refers to the end of any conceived relationship between politics and philosophy (ala Aristotle), hence, the end of the tradition of political philosophy.

The second half of The Promise of Politics is essentially one large chapter (within the context of the book) titled, "Introduction Into Politics"-- note: not "of" politics, or "about" politics, but "INTO" politics, almost to infer a distinction from an introduction out of politics. "What is politics?" she posits to the reader, and wuickly answers that there is no right philosophical answer. This is because philosophers are only concerned with man, and politics are the activities of men.

Arendt discusses the creation and origination of politics and goes on to describe how prejudices may affect a person's judgment within both foreign and domestic policy. After considering the purpose of politics, she then writes that of the meaning of politics, "the meaning of politics is freedom." She then spends time elaborating on this by examining the freedoms afforded by the governments of the Greeks, Romans and Trojans, as well as early American government.

Arendt appears to rely pretty heavily on much of Kant's work as she develops her thesis, but work by Nietzsche and Homer are also evident.

Jerome Kuhn's introduction is a little patronizing of Arendt, but it's short and skimpy and won't deter you from plunging into Arendt's prose, beginning with her startling revision of Socrates. For Arendt, Socrates helped split politics and philosophy with one decisive strategy, his defense at his famous trial. It's typical of Arendt that she sees thought in dramatic terms, always with a terminal at either end of time, existing not so much in essential terms but in contingent, always partial and always temporary states of being--human beings reacting to strain or stress, and in turn launching something new to spur new reaction. Thus Socrates becomes interesting only when in peril.

Because so many of these papers were presented as reviews or for occasional purposes (such as lectures) perhaps this emphasis on the dramatic might be explained thus. But oh, how she loved to be able to use "The End of Tradition" as the title of a paper, its apocalyptic note gave her a sort of gleeful, if embarrassed, outrage.

The master text here is the longest, the INTRODUCTION INTO POLITICS, oddly titled with "into" in special italics as though there might be an INTRODUCTION "out of" politics, as I suppose there might. It reads like a novel. We haven't had this novella translated into English before now. Whoever translated it did a fabulous job of approximating Arendt's nearly colloquial, clean and rich English. She was a stylist before anything else and this collection, published on the 30th anniversary of her death, burnishes the legend. It's no disgrace and it makes you wonder, if more papers are up there in her archive just waiting for new eyes to take a new look.

Hannah Arendt experienced understanding as passion. Aristotle and Plato wrote in the fourth century in a politically decaying society. Two Socratic insights, know thyself and be in agreement with the self, demonstrate the discovery of conscience even though there was no name for it. Solitude is necessary for the good functioning of the polis. The conflict between politics and philosophy was exemplified in the trial of Socrates. In Aristotle philosophers no longer felt responsible for the city. The philosopher wonders. Opinion and truth exist in opposition.

Only a small part of history is conceptualized in our tradition. Through Roman influence, religion, authority, and tradition are required for the foundation of society. Our foundation begins with the Roman acceptance of Greek philosophy. Philosophy begins with the asking of the question why is there something, not nothing. Montesquieu believed there must be more to government than power and laws. He reasoned what was missing was spirit. Virtue inspires acts in the republic, honor in monarchy, and fear in tyranny.

Marx and Hegel stand at the end of a tradition For Marx matter is beginning. Marx was prophetic, Hegel's worldview, by way of contrast, concerned the past. Arendt speaks of the inversion of Hegel in Marx and the reversal of Plato in Nietzsche. Marx liberated Hegelian dialectic and made possible the kind of process-thinking used in the nineteenth century ideologies. The process used to promulgate totalitarian ideologies is described.

The reason for politics is human plurality. Politics assumes incorrectly there is something in man that belongs to his essence. Man is apolitical. Politics exists between men, and thus, outside of man. The creation of man in God's image means solitary man. The West has tried to transform politics into history. The center of politics is concern for the world.

Arendt holds that the meaning of politics is freedom. In the Greek sense politics was an end, not a means. Totalitarianism holds that freedom must be sacrificed to historical development and that is terrifying. Plato, the father of political philosophy, set the academy apart from the political sphere. Revolutions and the participation of citizens have not developed a new kind of state. Limits and controls exist in the name of freedom. Politics is a means and freedom is an end.

There has been monstrous growth of the means of force and destruction available to the state. Arguably there has been a displacement of force. Politics in an age of hydrogen bombs poses particular problems and the situation is addressed by the author. The dropping of the atom bombs on Japan overstepped the limits of violent action the author avers. The destruction of Troy and Carthage are considered. The Trojan War has significance in both the beginning of the Greek polis and the beginning of Rome. Wars also shaped the twentieth century. The book ends with Nietzsche-- wordlessness.

The book is comprehensive in its treatment of politics. It is thought-provoking.

I purchased this book from Amazon.com. It's a chief paperback and I received it very quikly and in a good state. "The Promise of Politics" is, I think, one of the very important books for understanding Hannah Arendt's political philosophy. I am very happy to have this book on a very reasonable price and in good state. Jeong Chun-Koo

Politics is considered as a means to an end that lies outside itself. When force is used to create freedom, political principles vanish. She wonders if politics do have any meaning at all anymore.

She finds politics to be the never-ending endeavor of the plurality of humans to live together and share in mutually guaranted freedom. This is 'the promise of politics.' She questions the relation of politics to human freedom. I think that her understanding of politics is worldwide and not American. I know only the U. S. version, and it is back-stabbing with constant lies about the opponent (a negative effect on the candidates and the voters), promises of things which will never happen (and the politician knows it when he makes the false promises). Politics is dirty business.

Today's politics is nothing like that of the Greeks (beginning), Romans (founding) nor the Christian (forgiving). Here we believe in the division between church and state, thereby keeping these two entities separate. They are completely different in precept and beliefs and deeds which seem to be foreign as Spain is from Japan.

This is an intellectual thesis written in the '50s (and my! have things changed since then -- no more Kennedys in power, no Krushchev who had a hole in his shoe, no more totalitarianism or corrupt Jews. She bases her political thoughts on philisophy. She has written EICHMANN IN JERUSALEM, THE JEW AS PARIAH, THE HUMAN CONDITION, THE LIFE OF THE MIND, and RESPONSIBILITY AND JUDGEMENT. She is a deep thinker on the subjects of 'revolution,' 'violence,' 'political philosophy,' 'Jewish identity,' 'understanding,' and 'love.'

She was born in Germany and migrated to the U. S. after WWII where she has taught at Berkeley, Princeton, University of Chicago, and the New School for Social Research. She died thirty years ago.