Back To Action Itself—On Arendt’s Theory Of Action

The concept of "Action" has been interpreted continuously by philosophers since ancient Greece, but different philosophers held different views, forming different "tracks of action" which were interwoven into a huge "network" during the long course of western philosophy. Arendt’s theory of action, as a point on the track and a mesh of that network, constitutes a unique interpretation based on her predecessors’ thoughts of action:treating action both as a starting point and the final goal. Starting with this unique concept of action, this article tries to deconstruct Arendt’s theory of action with a phenomenological method.Arendt’s thought on action originated directly from Aristotle’s practical philosophy, but placed more emphasis on political action. At the same time, influenced by Augustine’s "free will", Arendt believed that action is a continuous manifestation and practice of the will which is the motive power and driving force of actions. The judging action of "spiritual life" in later Arendt draws mainly on Kant’s aesthetic judgment in his "Critique of Judgment". In a nutshell, by tracing back to the concept of action in western history, we have found the "ontological root" for Arendt’s theory of action.Arendt raised the concept of action by explaining three fundamental human activities of "vita activa":labor, work and action, and found out the display space for action---public sphere in which actors speak and act and therefore make known "who is he?" The actors actively display their personalities so that they can appear in the human world, and this is both the process and results of action. Besides, actions are indefinite, their processes are irreversible and their results unpredictable. Arendt also found forgiveness and promise as remedies for difficulties in action, thus creating a complete theory of action.Of course, the study on Arendt’s theory of action should not stop here, we must move forward in this direction and extend this theory, which means we must put the concept of action back to her entire thought, i.e., with action at the center and extending to thinking, willing and judging which are closely connected with political life and the Life of the Mind, as well as moral and ethical sphere to finally fulfill the extension of the theory of action.