Democracy, right and communicative power: Hannah Arendt versus Karl Marx

Abstract

Important scholars are used to emphasizing the dialogue between Arendtand Heidegger when seeking sources of Arendtian political thinking. Withoutrejecting the relevance of Heidegger, the central idea behind my interpretation isthat Arendt asks and answers the fundamental question of her political philosophyby establishing a dialogue, above all, with Marx. This article aims at highlightingthe fact that it is by refusing the theory of classes and its unraveling inthe Marxist utopia that she created the notion of “natality”, on which she baseshuman plurality. And that it is by refuting the definition of man as animal laboransthat she finds man’s specificity in his capacity for action and communication.