Research On Hannah Arendt's Aesthetics Of Politics

The thesis focuses on Arendt's Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy, The Human Condition, The Life of The Mind, etc. as the main objects of text analysis, and explores how Arendt establishes her own Aesthetics of Politics with Kant's Critique of Judgment as the theoretical basis and Plato's politics of poetics and other theories as the academic resources. The thesis uses the cross fusion of politics, aesthetics, ethics and other research methods and explores how Arendt analyzes politics from the aesthetic perspective in the interpretation of politics and aesthetics interaction, aiming to reveal the defects of traditional western political philosophy and expand criticism and reflection on the infringement of reason on freedom.The thesis mainly discusses how Arendt's "political" ideas go through the perceptual practice of public realm-- "aesthetic common sense", melt and penetrate into human body and mind, so as to achieve the free and harmonious political purposes. This is the theoretical basis of politics into the aesthetic category in the modern era,as well as the foundation embodying personal Aesthetics of Politics in Arendt's Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy and other works. Meanwhile, through the analysis of Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics influence in the postmodern context, the thesis reveals the aesthetic shift from modern western political ethics.First of all,the thesis tracks the ideological resources of Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics. Through the research on Plato's poetics of politics,he is considered as "the evil initiator" of totalitarianism. In Aristotle's view of practical wisdom,Arendt found a political ethic mode of "good life",which is different from Plato's idealism and avoids Plato's truth tyranny and the rigidity of modern rationalism. Arendt expressed how the idea of love by Saint Augustine might have an impact on human communication, so that she could firmly face and understand the world. With the help of Kant's Critique of Judgment, the critique of aesthetic judgment especially holds inter-subjectivity position,focuses on "general communicability" or "disinterestedness", and bridges the gaps between philosophy and politics, thinking and acting in Arendt's political aesthetic construction process. The concern with action of "natality" makes Arendt use theDionysian spirit of Nietzsche to attack the modern men tamed by ration and standard.From Rosa Luxemburg, Arendt saw an active participation in public affairs, even in the marginalized position of society due to gender, race and other reasons. As a disciple of two great philosophers, Arendt followed more Heidegger's ontological thinking in the knowledge of the methodology, but Jaspers' World Philosophy and Existentialist Aesthetics with more humanity achieve the harmonious unity of philosophy, aesthetics and politics and therefore win Arendt's praise. Both as public intellectuals, Arendt discovered Walter Benjamin's modern technology, especially the revolution energy release of photography which makes art and politics combined, and gets inspiration from it.Secondly, the thesis explains the realistic conception of Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics, the purpose of the ideal, the establishment and realization conditions. The realistic conception of Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics: Vita activa, which means the outstanding political life, is related to the practice of "taste" in public space. Through Kant's common sense and judgment, Arendt discovers the mental conditions of constructing public realm to support the political conditions, that is, the actors'(performers) excellent stories should be judged and written by spectators --- critics and viewers. They interact with each other and exist together in the public realm. Arendt's concern is the effectiveness of aesthetic reflective judgment on political judgment, which is used to redeem the modern political field that has been at stake. It can be said that Arendt takes some characteristics of Kant's aesthetic judgment as a model of political judgment, because in her view, this model takes into account the individual and public political issues. Arendt's ideal purpose of Aesthetics of Politics: Arendt criticizes the concept of freedom of traditional egoism, because it makes people lose their common sense,ultimately leads to individual loneliness,loss of public realm and totalitarian raging. She respects more the political freedom of the Greek polis democracy, which is a freedom to bring a new beginning, based on the common action and diversity and a freedom of subjects to act together. In Kant's theory, it is the aesthetic freedom, the"aestheticization" of the world and life, which will be its own survival aestheticization. In this process, human will experience unlimited freedom and realize self-transcendence and the appearance of beauty being political freedom. The establishment and implementation conditions of Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics: in Aesthetics of Politics,the aestheticization of the political occupies an important position. It marks the establishment of Aesthetics of Politics focusing on studying aesthetic elements of politics itself,and Kant's "general communicability" and "disinterestedness" help to achieve the aestheticization of the political. Here, the connotation of traditional aesthetics advocated by Kant's "non utilitarian" or "no objective purposiveness" is combined with politics.Aesthetic common sense as the conditions to achieve has overcome "individual" beyond the private realm, makes individuals break away from atom liberalism imagination and brings into the community existence of modern establishment.Thirdly, the thesis explores the influence of Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics on modern and post-modern aesthetic theories and some triggered controversies. If we say Arendt has found the relationship between Kant's aesthetic judgment and political judgment, then Rawls ascertains the isomorphic relationship between Kant's aesthetic judgment and moral judgment, the affinity which Arendt did not fully acknowledge, and therefore, Rawls follows the issue of affinity. If Arendt interprets Kant's aesthetics as her own political path or aesthetic means, then Jacques Ranciere directly presents politics as the aesthetic. In addition, as a female thinker,Arendt, with her "speciality",makes contributions to postmodern feminist culture. Her action and plurality theories can help feminists reconsider women emancipation, the relationship between citizenship and revolution. Besides that,Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics especially influences Julia Kristeva's new feminism of poetics- semiotics. Concerning the controversies triggered by Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics, the thesis doesn't hold the idea that aesthetic common sense can be fully realized in politics, and there are still certain cultural and political boundaries in her Aesthetics of Politics even though with communicative nature.In short,Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics aims to oppose "evil",advocate "truth",pursue "goodness", and finally realize the universal "realm of beauty" in the human society. That is to say, beauty is the symbol of freedom and the essence of life. Therefore,the research on Arendt's Aesthetics of Politics has some academic and application values,and Arendt's influences will last continuously.