The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e. the reality of the experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e. the standards of thought) no longer exist.[1]
Hannah
Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
(1951)
[1] Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt/Harvest Book,
1976), p. 474. A remarkable work, the
concluding chapter is particularly interesting as it discusses the roles of
isolation and loneliness in the shaping of pre-totalitarianism, which drew on
the “uprooted” nature of much of modernity. However, in light of today’s pandemic, Arendt’s analysis of “organized loneliness” (p. 478) could be
construed in a different manner by “anti-maskers” to support ideologies the
Jewish philosopher both experienced and fought against.
No comments:
Post a Comment