Two approaches to the Tradition in Hannah Arendt’s Works

Article

Abstract

[In English]

From the Latin «colere» which means «to take care», «to look after», «to protect» Arendt derives the notion of culture. Culture designates a safe and friendly place, a place that is easy to live in. The ancient Romans designed this place with piousness, care, and devoutness. But Arendt dealt with another dimension of culture, namely, a Greek one and the ancient Greeks didn’t care for tradition as the Romans understood it. They usually started from scratch. They believed that the love of beautiful things and beautiful ideas is possible only through spontaneous interaction with them and were self-made people. They did not imitate the canon because there was no such a canon and therefore they did not need the blessings of any future or past generations. It is not an accident that Plato corrected the poets in his Republic because tradition appeals to us while it is still valid for us and not sacred in itself. Tradition cannot be a storage box filled with mementos and memories. Hereafter we have two distinct concepts of tradition: the Greek one, which is active, creative, original, and forceful and the Roman concept, which is passive and receptive. In my paper, I would like to discuss these two notions of culture and the way Arendt dealt with them.