THE PLACE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF HANNAH ARENDT

Hannah Arendt contended that the question of technology is also a political question. It is, in a sense, a question of how human beings live and act together. It is, consequently, a matter of meaningful speech. In Arendt’s view, politics is premised on the ability of human beings to talk with and make sense to each other and to themselves. These considerations raise the further question of action. Even if we were able to think what we were doing with regard to technology, would it be possible to act meaningfully on the deliberations of such thought? What is the relationship, in other words, not only of technology to thought but of technology to the character of political communities? Finally, returning to the question of technology-aided thinking, would such thought be politically consequential given that politics depends on meaningful speech? The response to all these questions and other concerns are the focus of this paper which concentrates its research on Arendt’s work titled The Human Condition.