Ação e a introspecção : elementos do totalitarismo em Hannah Arendt

Abstract

This dissertation explores the importance of political action in the public sphere, highlighting the consequences of the absence or lack of political action in society. By analyzing the concept of action in Hannah Arendt's work, the research reveals the distinction between Greek political action and the action of the masses in modernity through an exchange of Arendt's developed conceptions. The chapters also address modern "political" events such as ideology and terror, aiming to problematize the role of these phenomena in shaping society, especially in mass societies under totalitarian governments. The research also emphasizes elements already identified by Arendt in the formation of totalitarian regimes, aiming to examine the hidden element that, beneath the surface of decadent classes contributing to the formation of susceptible mass societies, lies within introspection. Action, advocated by Arendt as the only form of political agency, in our understanding, in the modern and contemporary world, has given way to a flurry of bodies that, due to their genuine lack of purpose—i.e., beginning, middle, and end—can be led to the unspeakable governance born of this movement: totalitarianism. The discussion on the human condition of natality, that is, the act of initiating or creating something new and sustaining it in mass societies, highlights the difficulty of fully developing reflective thought, as this novelty is never completed. Thus, it was possible to conclude that introspection presents itself in contemporary times as one of the key elements for understanding the phenomenon of totalitarianism in its depth, and due to its novelty, it seems to warrant greater attention from political scientists and philosophers, given its image of movement, agitation, which can be easily confused with what we call political action in contemporary times due to its mobilization and motion characteristics