The Reinforcement of Political Myth? Hans Blumenberg, Hannah Arendt and the History of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

It seems that the first two decades of the twenty first century demonstrate political mythology to be still functioning in the political life of the West. In this context, it is interesting to view the recent publications of Hans Blumenberg’s Nachlass: Präfiguration (“Prefiguration,” 2014) and Rigorismus der Wahrheit (“Rigorism of Truth,” 2015), as they reveal unpredicted complications for the interpretation of his philosophy of myth as well as of his political stances. They also evoke some more general questions concerning the role of myth in our contemporary political life. The aim of this article is to present the paradoxes connected with the posthumously published Blumenberg critique of Hannah Arendt and to situate it in the wider context of twentieth century political thought, specifically the work of Sorel, Schmitt, Rosenberg and Cassirer. It is also to point to more general ethical and political ambiguities connected with the problem of political mythology in the present.

Keywords

• political myth
• eichmann’s trial
• hannah arendt
• hans blumenberg
• violence