The Human Condition
by Hannah Arendt · first published 1958
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12HN commenters
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A work of striking originality bursting with unexpected insights, The Human condition is in many respects more relevant now than when it first appeared in 1958. In her study of the state of modern humanity, Hannah Arendt considers humankind from the perspective of the actions of which it is capable. The problems Arendt identified then--diminishing human agency and political freedom, the paradox that as human powers increase through technological and humanistic inquiry, we are less equipped to control the consequences of our actions--continue to confront us today. This new edition, published to
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Yep, you do make sense (though I would suggest more line breaks :-P ). Also my username is swombat not snowbat... A great source for this discussion is Hannah Arendt's book "The Human Condition". I find it really heavy and difficult to read but full of incredible insights and powerful ideas about certain features/definitions/perspectives of human life. Highly recommended.
on “Hunter S. Thompson on Finding Your Purpose (1958)” ↗…* meaningness.com as an entry-point to Buddhist philosophy in general. * Logicomix as an introduction to Russell & his project in Principia Mathematica. * Mill's Utilitarianism, Hannah Arendt 'The Human Condition', and Henry George 'Progress & Poverty' for politics, history and economy, throw in a bit of Rawls. Schiller's 'The Robbers' is also very much worth reading. * SEP articles for the classic writers: Augustine,…
on “What, exactly, do philosophers do?” ↗…not news. I don't mean books written on occasion by the same people who write opinion columns and blog posts - rather great books that go deeper in how things work. Among the modern writings, Arendt's Human Condition was a real eye opener for me. I hope to find more modern book of such quality of thought, but older ones by classic philosophers don't lose their relevance either.
on “Some Americans are breaking out of political echo chambers” ↗…to mention this important work of Ellul! Following a parallel theme of labour vs. work vs. action and the dissolution of the public sphere (as enabled by technology), I can also recommend Arendt's The Human Condition for further reading.
on “Ask HN: If technology is so good for the world, why are we becoming less happy?” ↗…the Holocaust as the eradication of an inferior people. More recently, I read what is supposed to be Arendt's magnus opus and one of the greatest works of political philosophy of the last century, The Human Condition. I was surprised to find, given the reputation, that it was a conceptual mess. Arendt builds much of the book around a distinction between 'work' and 'labour', but they are neither mutually exclusive…
on “Not Belonging to the World: Hannah Arendt Holds Firm” ↗…the more serious attempts to discuss it today, and the "hopeless confusion" and "parroting" she mentions is on full display on HN... anyway, regarding language, the private and the public: From "The Human Condition" by Hannah Arendt, 1958 ( http://sduk.us/afterwork/arendt_the_human_condition.pdf ) > This future man, whom the scientists tell us they will produce in no more than a hundred years, seems to be possessed…
on “What Does Any of This Have to Do with Physics?” ↗…> The ideals of homo faber, the fabricator of the world, which are permanence, stability, and durability, have been sacrificed to abundance, the ideal of the animal laborans. -- Hannah Arendt, "The Human Condition"
on “German town votes ‘No’ to street names” ↗…(the criminal) that is, in sheer human togetherness. Although nobody knows whom he reveals when he discloses himself in deed or word, he must be willing to risk the disclosure. -- Hannah Arendt, "The Human Condition" We're now kinda saying no, we don't actually have to "risk the disclosure", and nobody can expect from us to disclose ourselves, nor to face others as the actual people they disclose themselves as.…
on “I quit Instagram and Facebook and it made me happier” ↗> We really need a revitalization of a “creator” culture to combat the present consumer one. Yes! I agree so much. As Hannah Arendt wrote in "The Human Condition": > The ideals of homo faber, the fabricator of the world, which are permanence, stability, and durability, have been sacrificed to abundance, the ideal of the animal laborans. If we changed to that,…
on “‘I’m Broke and Mostly Friendless, and I’ve Wasted My Whole Life’” ↗…unique to capitalism. If you're really interested in thinking about this stuff I'd recommend going to the source and reading Arendt and other political science. This idea specifically comes from "The Human Condition," which I've just started. EDIT: Sort of a follow-up thought: capitalism might actually be the escape mechanism that allows the bulk of activity in a society not to be labor. But the tradeoff is that…
on “25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning” ↗…role in developing existentialism is noted well in "At the Existentialist Café" by Sarah Bakewell[0]. He's also known as the mentor of Hannah Arendt, who later wrote "Origins of Totalitarianism", "The Human Condition" (Alan Kay's favorite book[1]) and "Eichmann in Jerusalem" (served as basis of her 2012 biopic[2]) [0] https://www.amazon.com/dp/1590514882 [1] http://www.squeakland.org/resources/books/readingList.jsp…
on “Existentialist” ↗…would suggest having some empathy for those affected. It’s not just gatekeeping, it’s people reacting to being told that the meaning they put into what they make doesn’t actually add any value. In the Human Condition, Hannah Arendt outlines three parts of the Vita Activa. The first is labour, at the bottom of the pyramid. It is by definition consumable and has limited meaning in itself. The second is work, through…
on “AI in the Arts Is the Destruction of the Film Industry. We Can't Go Quietly” ↗> But his friend Hannah Arendt took up many of his ideas in her opus The Human Condition (1958), which argues that political life, like aesthetics, is characterised by an innate, albeit now widely ignored, human need for self-display through performances that are not labour, or routine, or…
on “Art Must Act” ↗…disorder, I think it is lazy to assume that he and his administration is the source of the breakdown here. Two thinkers come to mind to me in this case: 1. Hannah Arendt, particularly her writing in The Human Condition (and maybe as an analogue: the Anthony Downs book on Bureaucracy and perhaps Jacques Ellul's The Technological Society I think?): > Bureaucracy is the form of government in which everybody is deprived…
on “The Undermining of the CDC” ↗