On Needing Both Marx and Arendt
Alienation and the Flight from Inwardness
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6352502 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jennifer Ring (Stanford University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1989 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 432-448 |
| Publication date | 1989-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0090-5917 • E-ISSN: 1552-7476 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0090591789017003004 |
| OpenAlex | W2071567641 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 11 |
Karl Marx and Hannah Arendt were two theorists concerned with the causes of modern misery. Both utilize a theory of alienation as an explanation for that misery. The Human Conditioni is the work in which Arendt most directly confronts what she regards as flaws in Marx's thinking. Although the book is generally regarded as Arendt's most important theoretical contribution, her theory of alienation is seldom taken seriously as central to her political thinking. Moreover, as a critique of Marxist theory the work is eccentric. Her contention that Marx, far from being a materialist, is overly subjectivistic seems perverse given Marx's reputation as a materialist critic of Hegelian idealism and has perhaps prevented her book from being taken seriously as a criticism of Marxist theory. In this article, Arendt's criticism of Marx and her own theory of alienation will be examined seriously. I do not believe that the theories of Marx and Arendt are as incompatible as they appear on the surface. Rather, each theorist may be used to demonstrate both the limitations and the strengths of the other. The image with which Arendt opens The Human Conidition is of the recent, and to Arendt unfathomable, desire to flee the planet itself: an incomprehensible celebration of the capacity to leave the earth in a space capsule. The question that troubles her is, What has become so inhospitable about the world that humankind should desire to escape its home?' Arendt believes that we ourselves have allowed the world to become inhospitable, nearly uninhabitable. It no longer feels like home and our response is to run
Alienation · Criticism · Deconstruction (building · Epistemology · Hegelianism · Historical materialism · Idealism · Marxist philosophy · Materialism · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Law · Philosophy
“We Live in a Society”
The Horror of Self-Reflection
Human security and the rise of the social
Method or madness? Sociolatry in international thought
Alienation and action in the young Marx, Aristotle, and Arendt
Bringing the Economy Back In
The Pariah as Hero
Dialectics and distinction
Arendt in the refugee camp
Hannah Arendt's Contribution to a Critique of Political Economy
Arendt's anti-humanism of labour
| Unique citing works | 11 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,31 |
| Citation span | 1991 - 2026 (36) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 11 |