Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Hannah Arendt believed that the will of the totalitarian ruler occupied the place left vacant by the absolute authority over the world attributed to God during the Middle Ages. With the collapse of the divinely ordained Kingships and the authority exercised by the Catholic church in the name of God, what would replace the authority of God in the world? How would such authority be constituted, who would act in its name, and what rules would it follow? Arendt believed that these questions missed the point. She welcomed the disappearance of absolute authority from the world in the name of the plurality of citizens whose power could now come forward. Only the power created by the collective decisions of citizens coming together to act on matters of public interest could establish a valid and just authority. Of course, this meant that there could be no return to the stability of the past. But it also meant that, as citizens, we assume responsibility ourselves for what happens in the world.
These clips come from a 1972 conference on Arendt's work at York University.
#philosophy #hannaharendt #politicaltheory #totalitarianism #authority
Hannah Arendt believed that the will of the totalitarian ruler occupied the place left vacant by the absolute authority over the world attributed to God during the Middle Ages. With the collapse of the divinely ordained Kingships and the authority exercised by the Catholic church in the name of God, what would replace the authority of God in the world? How would such authority be constituted, who would act in its name, and what rules would it follow? Arendt believed that these questions missed the point. She welcomed the disappearance of absolute authority from the world in the name of the plurality of citizens whose power could now come forward. Only the power created by the collective decisions of citizens coming together to act on matters of public interest could establish a valid and just authority. Of course, this meant that there could be no return to the stability of the past. But it also meant that, as citizens, we assume responsibility ourselves for what happens in the world.
These clips come from a 1972 conference on Arendt's work at York University.
#philosophy #hannaharendt #politicaltheory #totalitarianism #authority
