A1 Journal article (refereed)
The Value of the Surface : Reappreciating Embodiment, Labor, and Necessity in Arendt's Political Thought (2021)

Hyvönen, A.-E. (2021). The Value of the Surface : Reappreciating Embodiment, Labor, and Necessity in Arendt's Political Thought. Critical Times, 4(2), 263-283. https://doi.org/10.1215/26410478-9092732

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Hyvönen, Ari-Elmeri

Journal or series: Critical Times

eISSN: 2641-0478

Publication year: 2021

Volume: 4

Issue number: 2

Pages range: 263-283

Publisher: Duke University Press

Publication country: United States

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/26410478-9092732

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/78362

Abstract

Through an unorthodox reading of Hannah Arendt, this article argues that her political thought contains unacknowledged resources for conceptualizing embodiment in politics, and in relation to the economy, physical needs, and appearance. In contrast to the way she is typically read, this essay develops an affirmative account of embodiment in Arendt's work. Arendt not only recognizes the role of the appearing body in action but also underscores the importance of labor and necessity for a human sense of reality. Throughout her oeuvre, she presents a historical analysis of the rise of a functionalist, processual understanding of life under capitalist modernity. She also develops an alternative, nonfunctionalist framing of living bodies, highlighting a gratitude for “given” aspects of existence and the value of the bodily surface as a sentient interface between embodied needs and the common world. The article tracks the development of these reflections in Arendt's engagements with Karl Marx, Simone Weil, and Adolf Portmann.

Keywords: social philosophy; political philosophy; bodiliness; life; biopolitics; capitalism; critical theory

Free keywords: Arendt, Hannah; embodiment; necessity; appearance; labor; body

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2021

JUFO rating: 1