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Hannah Arendt's Concept of the Public Realm BEING ONESELF WITH ANOTHER: HANNAH ARENDT'S CONCEPT OF THE PUBLIC REALM A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts In Social and Political Thought By Deniz Ferhatoglu Regina, Saskatchewan May, 2011 Copyright 2011: D. Ferhatoglu Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88490-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88490-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Deniz Ferhatoglu, candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in Social and Political Thought, has presented a thesis titled, Being Oneself With Another: Hannah Arendt's Concept of the Public Realm, in an oral examination held on May 2, 2011. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: Dr. Margaret Ogrodnick, Department of Political Studies, University of Manitoba Supervisor: Dr. Phillip Hansen, Department of Philosophy and Classics Committee Member: Dr. William Stahl, Luther College Committee Member: Dr. Robert Piercey, Department of Philosophy and Classics Chair of Defense: Dr. Ian Germani, Department of History *Not present at defense Abstract What does it mean to be an authentic human in a world we share with other human beings? How do we belong individually and collectively to that world? How has modernity conditioned our experiences in it? And if totalitarianism is one of the most vivid historical examples of the vulnerability of our political togetherness, how can we fortify it, and where should we begin? Hannah Arendt's political theory is a response to these questions. Her genuine concern for human affairs and political togetherness, and her belief that understanding them is part of their rehabilitation makes her work an insightful guide for overcoming the predicaments and supplying remedies for the modern human condition. Considering her work as a whole, this thesis focuses on Arendt's concept of the public realm. Although Arendt's interpreters focus specifically on Arendt's arguments in The Human Condition when evaluating the concept of the public realm, I argue this to be an inadequate approach, particularly when the matter at hand is Arendt's political theory. Although insightful and original, Arendt's writings can come across as unsystematic, confusing, and incoherent at times. Thus, drawing conclusions based solely on one of her works can sometimes be misleading. In order to avoid this, in this thesis I survey Arendt's central works and focus specifically on three main themes from which I evaluate Arendt's concept of the public realm: (1) its ontological roots (2) its focus on citizen participation, and (3) its ethical component. By doing so, I hope to show that Arendt's work amounts to a cohesive narrative, and aim to situate the concept of the public realm within this narrative. 2 A cknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and assistance of the individuals who in one way or another assisted me during the preparation and completion of this study. I am heartily thankful to my supervisor, Dr. Philip Hansen who offered his guidance and support during this arduous process while allowing me the room to work in my own way. I am also very grateful to Dr. Shadia Drury for her genuine concern, consideration, and support during my studies at the University of Regina. I also benefited from the constructive and insightful comments of Drs. Robert Piercey, William Stahl, and Margaret Ogrodnick. It is my pleasure to acknowledge the Department of Philosophy and Classics and The Faculty of Graduate Research and Studies for their generous funding without which writing this thesis would have been next to impossible. Also, the staff at both departments has been of great help throughout this process. I am particularly grateful to Ms. Colleen Gills, Ms. Corrine Gogal and Ms. Mary Catherine Litalien for their assistance. Last but not the least, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents who have always supported me in every way they can and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. My deepest gratitude goes to my partner and best friend Waleed Al-Rabeh whose selfless love has been a source of hope and courage. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgments 3 Chapter One Introduction 5 Chapter Two The Ontological Foundations of the Public Realm 24 Chapter Three Founding and Recovering the Public Realm: Revolution and Citizen Participation 47 Chapter Four The Public Realm and Intersubjective Ethics 68 Chapter Five Conclusion 89 List of References 100 4 Chapter One Introduction In this thesis my primary concern is to give a thorough analysis of Arendt's concept of the public realm. Rather than focusing solely on The Human Condition where Arendt offers her most detailed exposition of the concept, taking my cue from this work I argue that a comprehensive understanding of Arendt's account of the public realm requires consideration of her political theory as a whole. I develop my argument based on the continuity that I claim exists between Arendt's earlier, more abstract and philosophical works such as The Human Condition (1958) that provide us with the explanation of the existential-phenomenological foundations of the public realm through the example of the Greek polis, her later more concrete and explicitly political works such as On Revolution (1977) and Civil Disobedience (1972) that deal with the ways through which this realm can come into existence by offering an analysis of the modern revolutions, and Arendt's last more philosophical works such as Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy (1982), Responsibility and Judgment (2003), and Thinking (1978) where Arendt addresses the concept of the public realm from the perspective of the human mental faculties, and which, in my opinion, amount to an intersubjective ethics. I argue that Arendt's emphasis on speech and plurality defies transcendental moral values and instead points to a form of ethics that is a result of public communication and collective action. Of course, what I try to portray here as continuity between Arendt's earlier and later works does not occur in an obvious and systematic manner. Nevertheless, in this 5 thesis I argue that Arendt's call for an ontological1 foundation of the public realm, her reflections on the founding and preserving of freedom in this realm through citizen participation, and her argument that the public realm generates its own ethics all stem from the same concern: How can we bring into being a public realm in which individual and collective freedom can be fully experienced? In this context, I challenge Arendt's interpreters who have often analyzed the concept of the public realm by focusing solely on Arendt's earlier works, especially The Human Condition. Arendt's arguments in this work, although illuminating and definitely necessary for laying the foundation for her argument that we need to rethink the concept of the public realm, remain abstract and incomplete. My analysis can also be read as a critique on scholars like Margaret Canovan and George Kateb who argue that Arendt's later "philosophical" works are in contradiction to her earlier political works. Rather than being in contradiction, I believe that these works complement and clarify each other. Moreover, when considered together they disclose two of Arendt's most unique intellectual merits: the courage to approach an issue from the least expected and explored perspectives, and the capacity to think beyond the common prejudices, ossified modes of thinking, and memorized convictions—a capacity that Kant called selbst denken and that she epitomized as "thinking without banisters." Arendt's unique thinking was urged by her own experience in Nazi Germany, and most importantly by her conviction that totalitarianism is the extreme outcome of the 1 Ontology, especially in modern continental thought and under the influence of Martin Heidegger's usage of the concept, has come to mean the study of being, or what Arendt called whoness.
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