Politics, Lies, and Moral Exoticism.  Re-Reading Hannah Arendt  on the Crises of the Republic

Adam Chmielewski

doi:10.35765/hp.2464

Published : 2023-03-30

Vol. 15 No. 50 (2024)

Politics, Lies, and Moral Exoticism. Re-Reading Hannah Arendt on the Crises of the Republic

Adam Chmielewski

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6001-5309

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35765/hp.2464

Section: Thematic Articles

Abstract

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of the article is a critical analysis of Han nah Arendt’s views on the role of truth in politics and their validity in the context of contemporary global politics.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The problem of the role of truth in politics has become increasingly relevant today due to the noticeable increase in political undertakings justified by false claims. In the article, the is sue is addressed by analyzing several such actions of global significance, among them the Vietnam War, the Iran‑Contra affair, and the US invasion of Iraq, as well as the public justifications for these actions formulated by the American administrations.

THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The argument proceeds from an analysis of the course of political and military events that led to the United States’ war against North Vietnam, as well as analogous processes preceding American military involvement in the Middle East and Central America. These analyses are subsequently confronted with Arendt’s statements regarding The Pentagon Papers.

RESEARCH RESULTS: While many of Arendt’s observations remain valid, there are significant differences between the factually unfounded justifications of political actions critically appraised by Arendt and those of contemporary policies. The differences are especially expressed in the frequency of the resort to false justifications in politics and the invoked doctrinal basis for them.

CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The overall analysis points to the growing significance of political aesthetics in contemporary politics: the art of political problem‑solving is increasingly replaced by the art of image building. The analysis of selected mendacious justifications in politics suggests also a paradox: excessive focus on the creation of a favourable image in politics, a prerequisite in democratic conditions, not infrequently brings about counterproductive results because political actions, if primarily trimmed for superficial public approval, tend to disappoint democrati cally formulated expectations.

Keywords

Morał exoticism ; Truth ; Democracy

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Adam Chmielewski

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6001-5309

Affiliation

University of Wrocław Poland

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Adam Chmielewski is a professor in the Institute of Philosophy, University of Wrocław, Poland. He is also a social activist and political columnist. He studied philosophy and social sciences at the universities in Wrocław, Oxford, New York and Edinburgh. He authored several books, among them Popper's Philosophy. A Critical Analysis (1995) Incommensurability, Untranslatability, Conflict (1997, 2014), Open Society or Community? (2001), Two Conceptions of Unity (2006) Psychopathology of Political Life(2009), and Politics and Recognition. Towards a New Poitical Aesthetics (Routledge 2020). He translated from English into Polish a number of books, among them works by Bertrand Russell, Karl Popper, Alasdair MacIntyre, Richard Shusterman, Slavoj Žižek, as well as some works of fiction. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Studia Philosophica Wratislaviensia, and a member of editorial boards of several Polish and international journals. In 2011 he played crucial role in securing the designation of European Capital of Culture 2916 for the city of Wroclaw, by authoring successful bid of the city for this title. He publishes blogs: Interventions: Philosophical and Political; Contra-Dictions, and Meetings Downtown.