The Educational Thought of “Spontaneity” in Hannah Arendt: Between Renewing the “World” and “Conservative” Education

Abstract

 A political theorist, Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) became famous around the world for her sharp criticism of modernity in The Origins of Totalitarianism, published in 1951. Two of her papers on education have been hints toward criticism of modern education. Her educational theory offers a sharp criticism of "progressive education" as modern education. In "Reflections on Little Rock" in particular, she attacks the idea of adults making use of children to solve the issue of racial integration. In this way, she criticizes "progressive education," but she hopes for children to become something new in a different way. She indicates a relation between the birth of children and the renewal of the "world". In concluding "The Crisis in Education," she identifies children as having "a chance of undertaking something new, something unforeseen by us," and calls for "conservative" education that enables them to be prepared in advance for the task of renewing the "world".

 Arendt discusses the renewal of the "world" from the perspective of "action" and "work". In Was ist Politik?, she finds "spontaneity" at the base thereof. Based on this, it is presumed that the overall argument about the renewal of the "world" in her theory of education will become clear after the work of rethinking it from the perspective of "spontaneity" underlying "action" and "work," which she has discussed since the first edition of The Origins of Totalitarianism. When this work is done, how can the connection between the "conservative" aspect and the renewal of the "world" in Arendt's theory of education be read through "spontaneity"?

 To answer this question, the following four issues are clarified. First, this paper confirms the argument of "spontaneity" in The Origins of Totalitarianism in relation to Arendt's criticism of totalitarianism (Section 1). Second, based on this "spontaneity," it examines the discussion of "action" derived from the study of the Hungarian "revolution" in the second edition of The Origins of Totalitarianism (Section 2). Third, the paper confirms the connection between "action" and "work", using the discussion on "between" derived from the previous section. It then clarifies the position of "spontaneity" in politics by demonstrating the relationship between "work" and "spontaneity" in The Human Condition (Section 3). Fourth, through reading Arendt's theory of education from the perspective of the discussion on "spontaneity" and politics, the paper elaborates on the connection between the "conservative" aspect and the renewal of the "world" in her educational theory (Section 4). The education derived from this connection is a "conservative" one that conserves the "spontaneity" of the child as the underlying faculty for "action" and "work" that brings about the renewal of the "world".