Hannah’os Arendt tiesos ir politikos samprata: tarp Sokrato teisingumo ir „banaliojo blogio“
Truth and Politics by Hannah Arendt: Between Socratic Justice and “Banality of Evil“

Summary/Abstract: From Arendt’s philosophical perspective, truth is either factual or rational. Factual truth, which is based on historical documents or evidence, can be distorted or turned upside down. Rational truth, which is Platonic and metaphysical and absolute, has a despotic character. Both types of truth are problematic in politics; therefore, Arendt advocates plurality and discursive politics when people act and speak together in public. However, this paper highlights that in the essays „Truth and Politics“ and „What is Authority?“, Arendt draws attention to Machiavelli’s political theory. Thus, the author analyses why Arendt rejects the philosophical concepts of truth and justice as understood by Socrates, instead emphasising the dangers of Machiavelli’s political thought. A comparison is made between Machiavelli’s and Trasymachus’s conceptions of justice. Attention is also paid to Arendt’s „Eichmann in Jerusalem“, in which she demonstrates how an obedient bureaucrat contributes to the German anti-Semitic regime, despite not himself propagating this ideology. This thoughtless contribution to totalitarianism resembles Havel’s concept of living in the lie; however, the differences between the two cases are emphasised.

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