A B S T R A C T
Perspectivism and
Corporeality – Nietzschean Themes in Arendt
Krista Johansson
M.A. degree student, Department of Philosophy
University of Helsinki (webpage under construction)
Corporeality and the philosophy of the body are not themes
commonly attributed to the philosophy of Hannah Arendt. Her
remarks on the body especially in The Human Condition have
been a target of feminist critique during the past two
decades. However, less attention has been paid to
Arendt’s descriptions of the body and sensibility in
The Life of the Mind. In this work she explicitly examines
the role of the body as constitutive of human finitude and
contingency.
Perspectivism on the other hand has been recognized in
connection with Arendt’s request for a pluralistic
ontology. In this paper I trace the roots of Arendt’s
perspectivism to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. I
show that Arendt’s teacher and mentor, Karl Jaspers
had a significant impact on Arendt’s conception of
Nietzsche’s philosophy and in general, on her
understanding of philosophy’s task as continuous
questioning. I examine Arendt’s conception of the
body in relation to her views on perspectival perception. I
show that her difficult and ambiguous remarks on the body
can be complemented by an investigation on
Nietzsche’s conception of the body and its role in
perspectival philosophy.
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