Research On Arendt’s Public Realm Theory

As a famous western female politics philosopher in 20 thcentury, Hannah Arendt developed a special theory, and first time came up with the public realm theory, which influenced later theorists such as Habermas. Through the contrast with Marxism, the system of public realm theory was presented more clearly. Although she has passed away for many years,her thought was still influencing the modern society. In particular, it offers many suggestions for China.This paper is divided into three parts to generalize Arendt’s public realm theory. The first part analyses the formation background of Arendt’s public realm theory from two aspects.Firstly, the influence of the Second World War and the postwar life condition in America, these offer the times background for Arendt to come up with the public realm theory. Secondly, the influence of ancient Greece and Aristotle, and thought of two tutors in her life—Heidegger and Jaspers, these provide abundant theory resource for Arendt developing the public realm theory.The second part constructs the public realm theory that based on two series of concepts distinction, one is the distinction between labor, work and action, and another is the distinction between private realm, social realm and public realm. In particular, it was presented clearly by the contrast of Marx’s labor theory.The third part reviews the public realm theory, deeply excavates the theory values,discovers the theory defects, and seeks for the efficient approaches to construct China’s democracy politics.