Doing aesthetics with Arendt : how to see things PDF
Preview Doing aesthetics with Arendt : how to see things
Doing Ae(cid:2)hetics wi(cid:3) Arendt Cecilia Sjöholm DOING AESTHETICS WITH ARENDT COLUMBIA THEMES IN PHILOSOPHY, SOCIAL CRITICISM, AND THE ARTS COLUMBIA THEMES IN PHILOSOPHY, SOCIAL CRITICISM, AND THE ARTS LYDIA GOEHR AND GREGG M. HOROWITZ, EDITORS Advisory Board Carolyn Abbate J. M. Bernstein Eve Blau T. J. Clark Arthur C. Danto John Hyman Michael Kelly Paul Kottman Columbia Themes in Philosophy, Social Criticism, and the Arts presents mono- graphs, essay collections, and short books on philosophy and aesthetic theory. It aims to publish books that show the ability of the arts to stimulate critical reflection on modern and contemporary social, political, and cultural life. Art is not now, if it ever was, a realm of human activity independent of the complex realities of social organization and change, political authority and antagonism, cultural domination and resistance. The possibilities of critical thought embed- ded in the arts are most fruitfully expressed when addressed to readers across the various fields of social and humanistic inquiry. The idea of philosophy in the series title ought to be understood, therefore, to embrace forms of discus- sion that begin where mere academic expertise exhausts itself; where the rules of social, political, and cultural practice are both affirmed and challenged; and where new thinking takes place. The series does not privilege any particular art, nor does it ask for the arts to be mutually isolated. The series encourages writing from the many fields of thoughtful and critical inquiry. For the list of titles in this series see page 221. DOING Æ(cid:2)HETICS WI(cid:3) ARENDT HOW TO SEE THINGS CECILIA SJÖHOLM COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © 2015 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sjöholm, Cecilia. Doing aesthetics with Arendt : how to see things / Cecilia Sjoholm. pages cm.—(Columbia themes in philosophy, social criticism, and the arts) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-231-17308-7 (cloth : acid-free paper)— ISBN 978-0-231-53990-6 (e-book) 1. Arendt, Hannah, 1906–1975. 2. Aesthetics. 3. Art—Philosophy. I. Title. B945.A694S56 2015 111ʹ .85092—dc23 2015001341 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. This book is printed on paper with recycled content. Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover and book design: Lisa Hamm Cover image: 1969. © AP Photo References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. FOR MÅRTEN, HOA, AND THU CONTENTS INTRODUCTION IX 1 SENSING SPACE: ART AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE 1 2 THE WORK OF ART 31 3 THE ENCROACHMENT OF OTHERS 68 4 TENSIONS OF LAW: TRAGEDY AND THE VISIBILITY OF LIVES 105 5 COMEDY IN THE DARK: ARENDT, CHAPLIN, AND ANTI-SEMITISM 133 NOTES 155 BIBLIOGRAPHY 199 INDEX 211 INTRODUCTION THINGS CAN be seen in a number of ways. Things, not only things in the material sense of objects but also “things”—that is, problems, con- cepts, and phenomena—can be scrutinized from a variety of positions and perspectives. The title of this book refers to an aesthetics after Hannah Arendt. She never wrote on aesthetics. But she engaged in problems of art and aesthetic theory—reflecting on sensibility, judgment, and works of art in a manner that is both radical and consistent. The purpose of Doing Aesthetics with Arendt: How to See Things is dou- ble: first, to trace a coherent line in Arendt’s considerations of art and aes- thetics in and through the scattered remarks on aesthetic experience and works of art in her published works, notes, and letters, and second, to make her thoughts relevant for us today. This includes a reflection on how her aesthetics may inform and alter our attitude toward philosophical ques- tioning, for instance, on the political, agency, freedom, the law, prejudice, and so on. Together, these purposes form an overall question: If Arendt had produced an aesthetic theory, what would it have looked like? The question is inspired by Arendt herself. She knew well that Kant’s Critique of Judgment was not a book on politics, yet she decided to read it as Kant’s unfinished “politics.” I have made use of that gesture. I know well that Arendt’s reading of Kant was not an aesthetics. Yet I have decided to read it as an unfinished aesthetic theory. Such a reading may appear idiosyncratic. But it follows suggestions present in Arendt’s own work.
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