Freedom as a practice of virtue in the philosophy of Hannah Arendt
Keywords:
Hannah Arendt, freedom, virtue, politics, principlesAbstract
It is a commonplace to affirm that Hannah Arendt is a philosopher that is difficult to classify in a single political tradition. It is less hard to notice the great influence that the grecolatin world has exerted throughout its philosophy. The greek polis and the roman republic are recurring images to illustrate instances where politics has been fully exercised. Although the influence of the classics on their philosophy is patent, there is an absent element that is, nevertheless, widely worked by the ancients: virtue. Therefore, the present work aims to explore the links between a doctrine of virtue and the political philosophy of Arendt, trying to answer the following question: how is virtue related to the exercise of freedom? The work will conclude that, although Arendt does not work on a concept of virtue, it can be assimilated to the concept of principle, as it is stated in her essay Montesquieu’s Revision of the Tradition. In addition, the exercise of particular political virtues, such as courage and prudence, are practices that protect freedom.
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