Two Conceptions of Understanding Human Action: Hannah Arendt and Karol Wojtyła
Piotr S. MAZUR
Department of the Philosophy of Being, Man and Society, Institute of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, Ignatianum University in Cracow, ul. Kopernika 26, 31-501 Cracow, Poland , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6399-8133
Abstract
Hannah Arendt and Karol Wojtyła were two prominent philosophers of the twentieth century who sought to comprehend man by analyzing his action. Both philosophers referred to the classical tradition, but they focused on different aspects of the dynamism of human action. Arendt, by analyzing action as a practical activity aimed directly at another human being, showed the dynamic dimension of human existence. Wojtyła, through his analyses of an act, attempted to understand the nature of the human person as the subject of action. The article demonstrates that these two different and, in many respects, oppositional conceptions of human action in many places complement each other. The oppositions and complementarity of the two concepts can be seen in Arendt’s and Wojtyła’s approaches to the issues of vita activa and actus humanus, as well as ethics and politics.
Keywords:
Hannah Arendt, Karol Wojtyła, human action, vita activa, actus humanus, ethics and politicsDepartment of the Philosophy of Being, Man and Society, Institute of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, Ignatianum University in Cracow, ul. Kopernika 26, 31-501 Cracow, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6399-8133
