(This post was originally written as a comment on my post but was meant to be another post by Sarah I believe)
Given that the Human Condition was written in 1958, times have greatly changed and I disagree with Hannah Arendt’s focus on speech and action. In the modern world we live in today, our society is very much focused on the visual. Therefore, much political argument is shown through visual practices, such as, political cartoons, documentaries, street art, protests, film, and so much more. I think these mediums are so prevalent in today’s society because they are so easily accessible to the general public, but are still able to get a political message across. It is much easier for someone to watch a documentary that investigates corporations rather than go to a speech or a discussion panel concerning the same issue. However, according to Arendt, the simple act of someone watching a political documentary would not suffice to their active engagement in political discourse, or in her words, action. Moreover, must a person actively engage in public discourse to be political, as Arendt would argue, or is it possible for a person to be political without engaging in public discourse?
Perhaps Arendt may have thought differently about the meaning of action had she lived in the modern world with social media and the internet constantly at ones fingertips. Would she consider stating ones opinion on a forum or blog to be a form of action or does one have to meet with others face to face and physically converse with them. Arendt may see these as tools to promote widespread action or perhaps as a hindrance to public discourse. You are right to say that times have changed since 1958 though in comparison to medieval and ancient Greek philosophers The Human Condition might as well have been written yesterday. These blog posts will likely be antiquated in 50 years though it does not mean that they will not have relevance then. The remarkable aspect of Political Theory is that ideas may continue to be relevant long after the original person who had the idea has passed on.
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