Doing aesthetics with Arendt : how to see things

238 Pages·2015·1.46 MB·English

by  Arendt

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.