Egorova, I. V. Hannah Arendt about Mass Culture

Abstract: Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) is a German-American philosopher and political theorist. She seriously thought to develop systematic phenomenology and analytics of politics. At the same time, Arendt based herself on such basic concepts of political philosophy as power, freedom, violence, revolution and social issue. She tried to build a non-metaphysical ontology which would contribute to human freedom instead of making human a hostage of cause-and-effect relations. The keynotes of her philosophy are freedom and humanism. To her freedom is not only a fundamental characteristic of human existence but also the main criteria for assessing social and spiritual progress. Hannah Arendt showed contradictions of social development and her ideas about social activity and totalitarianism played an important role in formation of modern political studies. Her publishing and cultural-political activity was highly appraised by the society. The present article is devoted to Hannah Arendt’s interpretation of the phenomenon of mass society. Her cultural and philosophical views haven’t been fully discussed in Russian philosophical literature yet.

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