Troen i verden: Troens passive og aktive konstituering og udfoldelse belyst af Hannah Arendts fænomenologiske analyser

This thesis explores Hannah Arendt’s notions of labor, work, and action, her analysis of The Origins of Totalitarianism, and her understanding of human natality in order to shed light on the active and passive constituents of faith. Distinguishing between labor, work, and action Arendt demonstrates a close connection between the character of the chosen activity (labor, work, or action) and the nature of the given reality with which this activity is engaging. If the chosen activity is not compatible with the given reality it is engaging with, humans will experience what Arendt calls a modern world alienation because the given reality is no longer experienced in accordance with its nature. Arendt argues that the free initiative inherent in action calls for a responsible answer while at the same time humans can neither control nor predict the long-term consequences of action’s initiatives. According to Arendt, the dread caused by this insecurity can be overcome either by a courageous trust in God (Gottesvertrauen) that enables humans to act boldly and responsibly in accordance with their experience and judgement of the world, or by trying to eliminate action’s freedom and replace it with obedience to the necessary logic of an idea. Trust in God is therefore crucial if the human world (die Welt der Menschen) is to remain a true home for human beings rather than the desert of totalitarianism, which is attempting to cope with the unpredictability of action by eliminating the possibility of any action but one.
This thesis explores Hannah Arendt’s notions of labor, work, and action, her analysis of The Origins of Totalitarianism, and her understanding of human natality in order to shed light on the active and passive constituents of faith. Distinguishing between labor, work, and action Arendt demonstrates a close connection between the character of the chosen activity (labor, work, or action) and the nature of the given reality with which this activity is engaging. If the chosen activity is not compatible with the given reality it is engaging with, humans will experience what Arendt calls a modern world alienation because the given reality is no longer experienced in accordance with its nature. Arendt argues that the free initiative inherent in action calls for a responsible answer while at the same time humans can neither control nor predict the long-term consequences of action’s initiatives. According to Arendt, the dread caused by this insecurity can be overcome either by a courageous trust in God (Gottesvertrauen) that enables humans to act boldly and responsibly in accordance with their experience and judgement of the world, or by trying to eliminate action’s freedom and replace it with obedience to the necessary logic of an idea. Trust in God is therefore crucial if the human world (die Welt der Menschen) is to remain a true home for human beings rather than the desert of totalitarianism, which is attempting to cope with the unpredictability of action by eliminating the possibility of any action but one.