Beyond The End-Means Category ——The Expulsion Of "Political Violence" By Arendt’s Action Theory

This thesis deals with the definition and discussion of the concept of power/violence and the relationship between them in Arendt’s theory of action.Political violence emerged in the 1960s as a specialized academic research object.From the perspective of political philosophy,the thinking on political violence is firstly carried out around its essential issues.According to different attitudes towards political violence,we can find two basic positions: absolutism and positivism.The former holds an attitude of absolute denial or praise for violence,while the latter recognizes the instrumental value of violence and believes that violence can play a certain positive role in political.The positivist position has led to discussions of two types of questions centered on the endmeans category,the first being the normative question of ends/means,and the second requiring reflection and critique of the category itself.Based on this discussion background,this paper attempts to examine Arendt’s views on power and violence on the basis of Arendt’s theory of action in order to obtain inspiration for dealing with these two types of problems.So we can understand that it is possible to break the curse of violence that "you can’t make an omelet without breaking an egg" only with a vision beyond the scope of end-means when we deal with political affairs.This article begins by presenting Arendt’s critical process of Marx and the New Left,thereby revealing a series of distinctions she makes between meaning and purpose,power and violence,action and making.She not only strictly limits violence to the category of end-means and only recognizes its instrumental value,but also defines political affairs as action and speech,and finally comes to the conclusion that power and violence are not only different but also opposites.Arendt regards the theory of making,which follows the category of end-means and its utility principle as the basis of action,as a theoretical countermeasure to overcome the dilemma of action by suppressing the pluralism of people.In the philosophical discussion after Descartes,the importance of pluralism to the concept of world is further diminished.Arendt believes that the solution to the dilemma of action lies in the action itself,and advocates confronting the irreversibility and unpredictability of action with a nonviolent act of forgiveness and commitment,thereby ensuring that action unfolds again and power in the sense of action is free from repression.As a predecessor,Arendt’s reflections on the catastrophe of her times and life experience will continue to provide us with a calm and open perspective in the process of reflecting on the nature of politics in the 21st century.