Plato, Arendt and the conditions of politics

I will expose and discuss Arendt's genealogical account of the contemporary understanding of the human affairs and her critiques to a technocratic conception of politics which nowadays holds sway. Politics was for Arendt originally meant to be the place where men can manifest their individuality through speeches and deeds which can affect the life of the community, as actually happened in the public sphere of the polis, where citizens could meet and discuss as equals. Starting from Plato, the philosophical thought, modelled on the idea of logical and natural necessity, refused to acknowledge the peculiar status of public life and looked for universally valid criteria and ends according to which the city or the state should be shaped anew. The politician was no more a citizen taking part into public confrontation and became a skilled technician who can operate according to his abstract principles: the core moment of politics, rather than debate, becomes legislation. The existence of a plurality of men is obscured by the concept of a human nature which should allow to know, foresee and manipulate human behaviour. While praising Arendt's rehabilitation of participative politics and positive liberty, I will criticise her dismissal of the traditional framework insofar it remains necessary to edify and maintain a well-articulated institutional and social context which allows freedom to be possible without disappearing in a short time or to remain a privilege of a number of happy few.