Publicado

2017-09-01

Arendt’s Notion of Natality. An Attempt at Clarification

La noción de natalidad de Arendt. Un intento de aclaración

Palabras clave:

H. Arendt, capacity to begin, natality, plurality. (en)
H. Arendt, capacidad para comenzar, natalidad, pluralidad. (es)

Autores/as

  • Wolfhart Totschnig Universidad Diego Portales
Arendt claims that our natality (i.e., our condition of being born) is the “source” or “root” of our capacity to begin (i.e., of our capacity to initiate something new). But she does not fully explain this claim. How does the capacity to begin derive from the condition of birth? That Arendt does not immediately and unambiguously provide an answer to this question can be seen in the fact that her notion of natality has received very different interpretations. In the present paper, I seek to clarify the notion. I bring together and examine Arendt’s scattered remarks about natality and propose a new interpretation that responds to the stated question. Along the way, I show how the various existing interpretations have arisen and argue that, in view of that question, they are inadequate.

Arendt afirma que nuestra natalidad (es decir, la condición de haber nacido) es la “fuente” o “raíz” de nuestra capacidad para comenzar (a saber, de nuestra capacidad para iniciar algo nuevo). Sin embargo, ella no explica esta afirmación a cabalidad. ¿Cómo es que la capacidad para comenzar deriva de la condición de nacimiento?  Debido a que Arendt no proporciona una respuesta inmediata y clara a esta pregunta, su noción de natalidad ha sido interpretada de maneras muy diferentes. Este trabajo busca aclarar la noción. Se reúnen y se examinan los comentarios dispersos de Arendt acerca de la natalidad y se propone una nueva interpretación que responde a dicha pregunta. En el proceso, se demuestra cómo surgieron las diversas interpretaciones existentes y se argumenta que son inadecuadas.

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