56 pages • 1 hour read
The Life Of The Mind
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Volume 2, Part 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Volume 2, Part 2: “Quaestio Mihi Factus Sum: The Discovery of Inner Man”
Volume 2, Part 2, Chapter 7 Summary: “The Faculty of Choice: Proairesis, the Forerunner of the Will”
Arendt asks what caused humans to realize they could look to the future through the Will. She points to Aristotle, who saw reason as the mediator that keeps humans from committing evil acts. However, Aristotle’s construction was based on inclination: Reason inclines humans to make the right choice. This is not the same thing as Will, according to Arendt, who believes Will requires freedom.
In Aristotle’s construction, humans are pulled continuously between desire and reason. The choices they make are ones which move them toward happiness; therefore, they may choose either desire or reason. Neither is inherently wrong so long as they move the individual toward happiness. Arendt argues that this does not speak to action, something that requires premeditated thought.
Volume 2, Part 2, Chapter 8 Summary: “The Apostle Paul and the Impotence of the Will”
Paul was the first to introduce the idea of free will that became a foundational problem for philosophers. In his “Letter to the Romans,” Paul recognizes a conflict within himself. He wants to obey the law of God, but he still commits actions against the law: “I do not understand my own actions…for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (65). In this statement, Paul conceptualizes the idea of the original sin, that humans are innately sinful.
