Arendt's Alacrity: A Vignette

Author(s): Jerome Kohn

Source: World Policy Journal, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Winter, 2006/2007), pp. 91-92
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40210058
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 Kohnis thetrustee
Jerome oftheHannahArendt Trustand thedirector
Literary oftheHannahArendtCenterat TheNew
School.He has edited
fourvolumesofherpreviously and uncollected
unpublished writings, Responsibilityand
including
Judgement(Schocken Books,2003) andThe Promiseof Politics(Schocken
Books,2005).

Arendts Alacrity:A Vignette

Kohn
Jerome

On a Sundayafternoon in earlyJune,1968, New York 15 yearsbefore.Arendt,who

Loreand Hans Jonas,togetherwithHannah lovedpoetryand had knownThomas,lis-
Arendt,gave a partyin thegardenofthe tenedto him attentively, at leastat first.
Jonas'homein New Rochelle,a shorttrain When it becameobviousthatthestranger's
ridefromNew YorkCity.The occasion interestwas less in Thomas'spoetrythanin
markedtheconclusionofArendts and his deathfromalcoholism,Arendtgrewim-
Jonass springsemestercoursesat theGrad- patientand turnedback to us forourques-
uate FacultyoftheNew SchoolforSocial tionsaboutVietnam.But thestranger was
Research.Theyhad each taughttwo courses, notto be put off.He demandedto know
one ofwhich,a seminaron Plato'sTheaetetus,whathad possessedthepoet to squanderhis
theyco-taught.In retrospect, one wonders giftsin drunkenness. When he asked"Was
whytheydecidedto do that,sincethesemi- it his wifeCaitlin'sfault?"Arendtarched
nar,despiteits considerablepromise,was a hereyebrows, sighed,and walkedawayto
contentious pedagogicalexperiment. Jonas's rejoinherotherguests.Later,shortlybefore
concernswerehistoricaland epistemologi- it was timeto leave,a fewofus sat down
cal, whileArendtwas intenton revealing withArendtto resumetalkingabout the
Plato'sthinking,and by extensionall think- war.But no soonerhad we startedthan,as
ing,as an activitythatdoes not resultin ifon cue, thestrangerreappeared, again
of
knowledge any kind.Needless to say,the interrupting us to harangue Arendt about
twoold friendsneverrepeatedtheexperi- Thomas.
ment.On thatJuneafternoon, however,50 "How could sucha greatpoet,"he all
or so oftheirstudentsfromall threecourses but shoutedat her,"betraytheEnglish
wereinvitedto celebratetheend oftheaca- language,betrayus,by drowninghimself
demicyear,drinkingwineand eatingcakes in booze?"By thenit was clearthatthe
withtheirfamousand formidable teachers. strangerhad himselfimbibeda good deal
In 1968, 1 barelyknewArendtoutsidethe ofwine,and Arendtsaid nothing."What
classroomand,alongwitha smallgroupof wentwrongwithDylan,"he pressedher,
friends,was determined to speakwithher "I meanpsychologically wrong?Was it an
aboutAmerica'sescalatingand divisivewar Oedipal problemwithhis father, and then
in Vietnam.But thatwas not to be. the old man'sdying,deserting him in si-
When we finallymanagedto surround lence,thatdroveDylan to drink?" When
herand focusherattentionon thepolitical he beseechedherto tell himwhatshe knew,
mattersthatimmediately concernedus, a Arendtstoodup, lookedhim straightin
youngstranger brokeinto the group and in- theeye,and said, "My dearyoungman,as
sistedon talkingto Arendt about Dylan faras I know,MisterThomashad themost
Thomas,theWelshpoet who had died in enormousthirst."That stoppedall ofus,

© 2007 WorldPolicyInstitute 91

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includingthestranger, dead in our tracks,
and thentheparty,amid laughter,drewto
a close. It was notuntilwe readOn Violence
and Lyingin Politics- two concretepolitical
analyses thattodayappearevenmoreperspi-
caciousthanwhentheywerewritten - that
we discoveredthedepthofArendts appreci-
ationofAmericas misadventure in South-
eastAsia.
In theyearsfollowing1968, 1 worked
as Arendts teachingassistantand was the
happybeneficiary ofa long,ongoing,and
ever-renewed conversation withher.In an
unusualsense,it was about oneselfthatone
learnedmostby speakingwithArendt,but,
althoughI believethatto be truefrommy
own experience, it is difficult
to sayexactly
whatwas learned,otherthanthatit was al-
mostalwaysunexpected.It was notself-
knowledgein thepsychoanalytical sense,
whichArendt,who was convincedthat"the
humanheartis an abyss,"deemedbeyond
our cognitivepowers.Put mostgenerally, it
had to do withdiscoveringtheminds po-
tentialities,and perhapsone or two things
maybe briefly mentionedregardingthat
discovery.
Everyonewho has everthoughtknows
thattheactivityofthinkingis quick,
quickerthana flashoflightning,and that
it is almostalwayssloweddownand re-
shapedin the thinker's speechand writing.
In thisrespectArendts writingis different.
Becauseto herthepurposeofwritingwas
to reproduceherlivingthoughts,she wrote
themdownas fastas she could moveher
fingers.Her writingmaybe seen,I believe,
in analogyto thelate worksofCezanne,
who in makinga singleimageofhis multi-
fariousperceptions ofa particularrockor
treeengageshis viewersin theprocessof
his painting - a processhe once likenedto
-
thinking by openingtheireyesto the
tremendous manifoldness oftheobjecthe
observed.
Althoughhis paintingand herwriting
arepublic world-building activities,the
92
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alacrityofArendt 's mind,therapidityofthe
changingpointsofviewfromwhichshe
consideredeverytopic,was also reflected in
herprivatespeech.The delightofconvers-
ing withArendtwas notin findingtheso-
lutionto a problemor in reachinga conclu-
sion,but in continuingto speak.Speaking
withher,I graduallybecameawarethata
commonhumanworldemergesbetweenand
relatesthosewho conversefreely and sponta-
neously with each other,unbound by the
conventions ofanyone universeofdiscourse.
The realizationofsucha worldbringsrelief
fromtheconcernsoftheself,a reliefthat,
whenit was mostneeded,Arendtprovided
by joltingherinterlocutor intoa senseof
amazementat thesourceofhis self-concern.
In 1973, 1 livedon Long Island,spend-
ing onlythreeor fourdaysa weekin the
city,stayingwithfriendsin theirtypical
GreenwichVillagebrownstone. I sleptin a
roomon the top floor,wakingup each
morningto thesmelloffreshly bakedItal-
ian breadrisingfroma nearbypanificio. One
wintrymorningin MarchI awokemore
abruptlythanusual,smellingnotfresh
breadbut theacridodorofsmoke.I knew
rightawaythatthehousewas on fire,and
laterlearnedthatan electricalappliancehad
ignitednewlyshellackedwood shelvingin
thepantrybelow.I rousedmyfriendsand,
barelydressed,we escapedintothestreet
throughsmokeand flames.We just made it.
Such newstravelsfastand afteronlya short
time,or so it seemed,whilewe werestill
shelteredin a neighbor'shouse,commiserat-
ing overour losses,I receiveda message
fromArendt.The messagewas to comeup-
townto herapartment on RiversideDrive
"at once."As soon as I could borrowhalfway
decentclothes,I went.When I enteredthe
apartmentshe graspedmyshouldersand
askedifI wereall right.I repliedthatI was
unhurt,thoughstillshakenfromthesheer
furyofthefire.Whereupon,smilingwitha
radianceI cannotforget, HannahArendt
said, "It was wasn'tit?"•
wonderful,
WORLDPOLICYJOURNAL• WINTER2006/07