Man and the World of Appearances

Abstract

For Arendt, the world in which men live is the world of appearances.¹ By this she means that the entities and organisms of which it consists, be they trees, rivers, mountains, animals or humans, are all capable of being percieved by the senses. They may appear directly to the senses or require the help of instruments; and they may be immediately perceptible or, like the inner bodily organs and the roots of trees, require to be uncovered before they can be perceived. Whatever their mode of appearance, they appear in some form. To exist is to ex-ist, to thrust oneself out, to appear to others. In the world of appearances, says Arendt, appearance is reality, and ‘Being and Appearance coincide’.² We know that a thing has come into existence because and when it appears to us and that it has ceased to exist because and when it dis-appears.