In the prologue chapter of "The Human
Condition" Hannah Arendt explains the central question of the book, the
meaning of the active manner in which humans exist. The prologue
offers two examples (current at the time of publication): the
conquest of space and the automation of work.
The
conquest of space
The conquest of space with the first man-made
objects in the heavens is, according to Arendt, is the greatest change of
the 20th century (even more than nuclear energy). This conquest of space
sparks the “desire to escape earthly imprisonment (…), the desire to
escape the human condition”. The human condition was always understood as bound
to ground, and now for the first time this assumption was challenged by
high-power rockets. Arendt sees this development as part of
a secularization process, pushing God out of the sky and replacing him
with man.
The
automation of work
The second subject discussed in Arendt's prologue is the automation of work. She considers the possibility that technical progress will free man from the arduousness of work. Arendt wonders what this prospect will do to people's relationship with what they do. If freedom is the freedom to act, what are we to make of a society in which acting is redundant, how can one earn his freedom then?.
The object of Arendt's The Human Condition is
to study those manners in which human action gains significance.
She explains that she will answer this question in two ways which make up
the structure of the book. It opens with a systematic analysis of three
modes of the human condition: labor, work and activity. The second part applies
this analysis and conceptual frame to a historical study of modern society and
modern era. Ahead of these two part Arendt includes another initial discussion
on the human condition and the distinction between the public sphere and the private sphere.
Next summary: Chapter one: The Human Condition (vita activa)
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Hannah Arendt - bio and summary of main ideas and books
