This master thesis investigates Hannah Arendt’s conception of conscience. The implicit scholarly consensus is that Arendt had only one conception of conscience. However, I will argue that Arendt...Show moreThis master thesis investigates Hannah Arendt’s conception of conscience. The implicit scholarly consensus is that Arendt had only one conception of conscience. However, I will argue that Arendt developed two distinct conceptions of conscience and that the later conception should be favoured over her earlier conception. Arendt’s first conception of conscience portrays conscience as the result of taking over societal values, which then make demands on us. However, according to her second conception conscience is not automatically active in everyone, instead conscience needs to be brought about by thinking. To make my argument in favour of Arendt’s second conception, I follow a dynamical, historical approach, according to which thinkers can change their minds. If later texts about the same subject (conscience) strongly contradict earlier texts, then we should look at which text fits better in the thinker’s overall framework. In the case of Arendt and her conception of conscience, it is her second conception of conscience which can support her banality of evil thesis and her conception of thinking. Therefore, I am concluding that Arendt’s conception of conscience as a by-product of thinking should be viewed as her most authoritative position on conscience. As a result, not everyone has a conscience, whereas everyone could have one.Show less
The problem of evil presented by Avicenna considers evil to be rather minimal, limited to single individuals and necessary. This dissertation attempts to apply this explanation of evil to the...Show moreThe problem of evil presented by Avicenna considers evil to be rather minimal, limited to single individuals and necessary. This dissertation attempts to apply this explanation of evil to the Holocaust. In comparison with the Banality of Evil by Arendt, Avicenna´s theory appears to be more cosmological and broad, while Arendt comments on the extremeness of evil of the Holocaust specifically.Show less
Hoe dienen politieke leugens beoordeeld te worden? In deze scriptie betoog ik aan de hand van de ideeën van Arendt, Koyré, Williams en Machiavelli dat het gebruik van politieke leugens ten alle...Show moreHoe dienen politieke leugens beoordeeld te worden? In deze scriptie betoog ik aan de hand van de ideeën van Arendt, Koyré, Williams en Machiavelli dat het gebruik van politieke leugens ten alle tijden afgekeurd dient te worden door de bedreiging die een politieke leugen vormt voor de liberale democratie. Hoewel de overheid in staat dient te zijn om geheimen te hebben, dient het geen gebruik van leugens te maken. Tot slot blijkt dat hedendaagse politieke leugens zich niet altijd bezig houden met het verbergen of verwoesten van de waarheid.Show less
The growing prevalence and popularity of Right Wing Populist organisations and figures across much of Western Europe remains one of the most pertinent political issues in the region. Through the...Show moreThe growing prevalence and popularity of Right Wing Populist organisations and figures across much of Western Europe remains one of the most pertinent political issues in the region. Through the successful exploitation of a controversial ideology broadly concerned with national sovereignty, nativism, and anti-elitism, Right Wing Populists have been able secure increasingly larger segments of the electorate and thus enter the political mainstream in many European countries. The recentness and rapidity of this phenomenon has spurred a great deal of popular and media interest. Much of this has been wholly negative, defined by explicit comparisons of Right Wing Populists to 20th century totalitarians and lengthy critiques about the perceived dangers of their platforms. Within Academia, several new theses have emerged which seek to account for these movements and extrapolate the underlying conditions fuelling their rise. This dissertation demonstrates how many of these academic theses, despite their modernity and differing conclusions, echo strands of functionalist and anti-popular mentalities that were prominent in the early half of the early 20th century. More specifically, due to their focus on economic and demographic factors as being the primary motivating force behind support for Right Wing Populism, they mirror Hannah Arendt’s conceptualisation of the ‘Masses’, whereby she claims that 20th century totalitarian movements were only able to secure power through the mobilisation of a large body of citizenry which had been rendered identity-less and embittered as a result of the rapid social and economic changes witnessed during the preceding century. By doing so, these do two things. Firstly, they tacitly agree with popular claims that these movements are the spiritual successors to 20th century totalitarians. Secondly, by ignoring or downplaying potential ideological or cultural conditions, such theses serve to delegitimise and trivialise support for Right Wing Populist movements, thus constricting political discourse. In response, this dissertation argues, using a number of comparative case studies chosen according to the least-similar case design as defined by Christopher Lamont, that these materialist understandings of the support for Right Wing Populists and, by extension, the various assumptions from which they derive, have lost much of their validity in the 21st century. Rather, this dissertation puts forward that support for these organisations is for the most part the consequence of preexisting cultural and historical factors, combined with rational self-interest, which persist across generations regardless of material changes. Fulfilment of this aim is fundamental as it encourages policy makers to re-assess their preconceived notions of Right-Wing Populists and consequently develop a more all-rounded understanding of them, which in turn allows the production of more relevant and effective positions to address the social conditions stimulating their growth.Show less
