The Great and Mind Boggling Arendt

This week it was my turn to write a paper on the essay for class. The article that I read was Hannah Arendt's "The Gap Between Past and Future." It was very interesting, but hard to understand. I kind of got a few interpretations out of it rather than just one solid one, which I guess is good because like I said in a previous blog, the more interpretaions, the more knowledge we obtain...usually. I believe that Arendt, when talking about the gap, was referring to the present in a way. There is no such thing as the present if you really think about it. This was one of the most mind boggling concept that I came across while reading this essay. Everything that we think, everything that we do or see instantly becomes our past. It also shapes our future. One point that I made in my own essay was that the present is irrelevant. Now this is arguable, and it is something I have never really pondered myself and it makes my head hurt a little. Another statement that Arendt made that really made me think was that if something has no name it doesn't exist. This gives language such a great authority, which in a way gives us authority and power. Overall I believe that Arendt's thoughts and statements were bold and very in depth and I loved it. She made me think more than any other author has before and I feel like I got so much out of this essay and I'm sure I will obtain this knowledge forever.

chemsford.