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MadArchitect
Joined: 14 Nov 2004
Posts: 2609
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Location: decentralized
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 Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:53 pm Post subject: What is judgment?
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Judgment is obviously a central concern to the essays we're reading, so as we read and discuss the book, we might do well to consider two questions: What does Arendt mean when she talks about judgment? And what do we mean by judgment?
Even if you're not reading the book, please take a moment to reply to this message and give us your answer to the second question. |
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Dissident Heart 
Wisdom Personified
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Joined: 29 Aug 2003
Posts: 1516
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| Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:11 pm Post subject:
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| Quote: |
| MA: What does Arendt mean when she talks about judgment? |
I think she is adressing something more than good sense or reasonable thinking: she is describing what it means to say "this should not have happened" and "you should not have done that". Judgement, for Arendt is qualifying an event as unacceptable and those who participated as responsible. She is also confronting those who witness said event and stay silent and are unwilling to pass judgement on those who committed the deed. Thus, she is passing judgement on those unwilling to judge.
Judgement, for Arendt, is fundamentally a moral act that defines our moral responsibility; and by judging, I think she is saying, we define what it means to be human. And, being human (among other things), means having to judge the deeds of ourselves and others...and denying this process is to deny our humanity.
At least that's what I'm getting so far. |
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Mr. Pessimistic
Assistant Professor
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 3480
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| Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:20 pm Post subject: Re: What is judgment?
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| MadArchitect wrote: |
And what do we mean by judgment?
Even if you're not reading the book, please take a moment to reply to this message and give us your answer to the second question. |
Not reading yet. What I mean by judgement is to assess a situation not only as it applies to ones own concerns, but by trying as best as possible to understand the implcations that will come from action or inaction for oneself as well as all others. Trying to actually comprehend all aspects of a situation and only then making a decision on whether it is 'wrong' or 'right' to proceed and then willingly accepting the results of your judgement.
Mr. P. |
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