On the second question, about whether art is as much if not more political than speech or action, I think that art, if it it meant to be political, is speech and action. A film, for instance, that inspires political debate, or even convinces others to agree with a certain position on an issue or take a political action is very much what Arendt would see as "action," in her definition. Films that don't do this, and instead focus on personal feelings (like most romantic comedies) or that exist purely to make money (plotless action movies, horror films, etc.) are in her definition, "work," because they are just there for consumption and making excessive amounts of money.
On the fourth question, about it being horrible to live life in a consumer society, I think that ignorance is bliss, and if you know nothing and care nothing about politics, and are completely focused on materialism, then that's what will make you happy. Being engaged in political thought isn't going to do much for you.
I agree with your response to the second question. Although I find Arendt's passage on art to be quite perplexing and I am not sure if I truly understand what she is trying to get at here. It seems as though she thinks art is useless yet she says it gives our world stability. Unless I am reading into her statements the wrong way, her ideas seem to conflict with each other. Moreover, while I am by no means a film buff it would seem that many films produced today have a more political message behind them than those produced when Arendt was writing "The Human Condition". Then again Arendt does not directly mention film in this passage either, so it would be interesting to see her thoughts on film and its relation to work.
ReplyDeleteIgnorance may be bliss, but I don’t think we are ignorant.
ReplyDeleteArendt writes about totalitarianism, saying that it’s best tool is keeping people from connecting. A leader can implement its totalitarian regime with a goal of “protecting” the citizens from the political process. I think Arendt would say capitalism is a totalitarian regime. It keeps people from connecting on a political level.
However, I do think you can be a capitalist and be political. For Arendt, capitalist ideas would be part of Work. Capitalism is concerned with the making and collecting of things, and so is Work. You can be capitalist on the Work level, but then also be Active and political.