Quotation
Last reviewed:
“Power corresponds to the human ability not just to act but to act in concert. Power is never the property of an individual; it belongs to a group.”
Hannah Arendt · Political philosophy · Modern · 1970
What does it mean?
Power corresponds to the ability to act in concert. It is never the property of an individual. It belongs to a group. Violence is a different concept, and on her definitions violence can destroy power and cannot create it. A rival reading, realist in the ordinary sense, says this is a philosopher's redefinition: power just is the ability to hurt and to make people obey, and concert is a nicety. She thinks that dictionary deletes consent. Definitions are political. If power only means the weapon, the language has already taken a side.
Did Hannah Arendt really say this?
The library’s label is Well attested. Arendt's English in On Violence, where she distinguishes power, strength, force, authority, and violence. These sentences are definitional and secure.
Where it comes from
On Violence
Approximate date: 1970.
How to use it
When you say a hospital trust is powerful, ask whether people are acting together or whether you are seeing a weapon and a habit of obedience. She wants those told apart. A strike and a lockout will not fall on the same side of her line, which is why the line is useful in a dispute and also why it will be resisted.
A mindset reading
She is putting concert and consent back into a word that had come to mean only domination. You can reject the redrawing. You should not pretend she was careless with the dictionary. The distinctions are the argument.
Understand the philosophy
On Violence is a short argument with the New Left and with the tradition that glorifies violence as the midwife of history. It depends on The Human Condition's account of action. The definition is not a mood about teamwork.
- power
- society
- freedom
FAQ
What does it mean?
Power corresponds to the ability to act in concert. It is never the property of an individual. It belongs to a group. Violence is a different concept, and on her definitions violence can destroy power and cannot create it. A rival reading, realist in the ordinary sense, says this is a philosopher's redefinition: power just is the ability to hurt and to make people obey, and concert is a nicety. She thinks that dictionary deletes consent. Definitions are political. If power only means the weapon, the language has already taken a side.
Did Hannah Arendt really say this?
Well attested. Arendt's English in On Violence, where she distinguishes power, strength, force, authority, and violence. These sentences are definitional and secure.
Which work is it in?
On Violence Approximate date: 1970.