The Human Condition By Hannah Arendt

Hannah Arendt, one of the most influential political theorists of the twentieth century, published a book in 1958 titled The Human Condition. In this book, Arendt discusses many ways in which she views the human condition, but more specifically she discusses its relation to labor and work. She characterizes labor and work as essential aspects of the human condition. Arendt goes on to specify these two aspects in the sense of the public realm versus the private realm, as well as in terms of the social life, and in the political. Arendts dives into depth on how work and labor are politically significant acts and how they affect the private and public realms. What is the difference between work and labor? Arendt would say there is a huge
And its tendency to move property from the private realm of the household to the public realm of society. Arendt defines the the social as “the rise of housekeeping, its activities, problems, and organizational devices.” and the “public organization of the life process” (Arendt 38 & 46). Society has changed a lot from men being able to choosingly avoid the public realm. One could see privacy in ancient times as a loss, a lack of life. Now if you chose to, you can live in your parents basement until you are 50 and stay in the house 90% of the time, living mainly in the private life. With mass civilizations that we have now, it is becoming more crucial to leave the private realm to link up with other humans in your society. Without the power of the masses and the contribution of all there is no true power or real
The political to me is when you act with intention to create lasting change for those other than yourself as well as yourself. Without labor in modern day America at least, there would be a loss of the political because no one would consider themselves to be advancing or contributing. No one would care to form the social or the political because of the value in them saying without labor there is no purpose. Work in contrast has everlasting effects, but nowadays people are not attending their nine to five to create lasting effects, they are doing it to pay for the bar that upcoming weekend. Art is work that lasts, it has durability and meaning. Art brings work into the social and