PHILOS 1E03 Chapter 16: Readings 16 – Hannah Arendt "Action"
20 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Human plurality (the basic conditions of action and speech) have both equality and distinction. If men were not equal, they would not be able to understand each other. On the other hand, if men were not distinct, they would not need either speech or action to make themselves understood. No human performance requires speech to the same extent as action: in all other performances, speech only plays a subordinate role either as an accompaniment to something that is possible to achieve in silence. Man"s capacity to act is extremely useful to purposes of self defense or pursuit of interests. Through action and speaking, men make their appearance into the world and reveal who they truly are. She analyzes the contemporary thought of the structures proper to the mystery of human action. She desires to construct a metaphysics and epistemology of action: asks what are we doing? .
