New online article for the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology by Simas Čelutka (Vilnius University; Vytautas Magnus University).
Simas Čelutka – “Art, Politics, and the Complexity of homo faber in Hannah Arendt’s Philosophy”
JBSP (Received 13 Jul 2023, Accepted 23 May 2024, Published online: 04 Jun 2024).
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to articulate and analyse the complexity of the concept of work in Hannah Arendt’s philosophy. Work is usually interpreted as antithetical to political action. This claim merits specification: only the instrumental, utilitarian strand of homo faber poses real danger to authentic politics. By contrast, the artistic or cultural mode of homo faber is not only compatible with Arendt’s understanding of politics, but in fact indispensable for any form of political longevity. Enduring political existence is impossible without the constant support of artists, poets, historiographers and monument-builders who reify and memorialize the key meanings of political communities. This claim is substantiated by applying the phenomenological concept of sedimentation and drawing the political implications of this application. However, similarly to Edmund Husserl, Arendt identified a dual, problematic nature of sedimentation that underscores the importance of natality and thinking in artistic practice.
Full article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071773.2024.2361151
Simas Čelutka, Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania; Faculty of Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
Accessing JBSP Online: The Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology is accessed via our publisher’s website: JBSP at Taylor & Francis Online. Access to the JBSP is free to all members of the society. You can find out more about becoming a member and supporting the BSP on the membership webpage. If you are not a member of the BSP, you can also log in using institutional access via Shibboleth and OpenAthens.