Abstract
According to Arendt, the mental activity of political theorizing on the one hand resembles the worldly practical logic of political experience as examined in the previous chapter. On the other hand, it at the same time is characterized by a gradual epistemological deviation and emancipation from the limited horizons of practical political understanding. This is realized by a practice of critical understanding which oscillates between genuinely political and genuinely philosophical experiences and which locates itself in a distinctly comparative and multi-contextual frame of reference. This account of a wandering type of theory has important implications for Arendt’s relation toward modernity, for her method of interpretation and conceptual construction and for the language of her political theory.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sigwart, HJ. (2016). The Experiential Position of Political Theory. In: The Wandering Thought of Hannah Arendt. Global Political Thinkers. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-48215-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-48215-0_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-48214-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-48215-0
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)