Revolutionary experiences at the close of the Modern Age and the concept of freedom in Hannah Arendt

Abstract

The concept of freedom in Hannah Arendt is one of the most significant in her work. Associated as it is with human action and discourse, it encompasses levels and variants throughout history, always valued in terms of the public and private spheres of life in society. This article considers the way in which this concept is historicized in the work of the young German-Jewish philosopher, demonstrating how revolutionary experiences at the close of the Modern Age marked a dispute on the meaning of freedom towards the original Greek notion of the concept. Although at its essence, the notion of freedom is the same in antiquity and modernity, it is imperative that we identify the way in which human activities (labor, manufacturing, and action) were re-hierarchized and instrumentalized by various revolutionary experiences and regimes particularly over the last few centuries.