Scienza, tecnica e alienazione del mondo nel pensiero politico di Hannah Arendt

In this thesis the science and technology subjects as developed by Hannah Arendt in The Human Condition are discussed. The underlying theme is the phenomenon of worldlessness, which refers to the existential condition of modern man, and manifests itself in the rejection of the world, conceived as Lebenswelt. The current technological advances and contemporary society are key in Arendt’s thought as they developed from worldlessness. Such topics give the measure of alienation, being the activities through which processes and actions are enfranchised, and whose consequences appear to be highly dangerous to mankind and its proximity. Arendt’s methodological approach can be described as ‘humanist’, therefore it focuses on humans and those implications due to the modern technological advances. Arendt’s point of view is that of the common man: she urges each individual to question their actions by investigating his naïves questions, and wondering if people are really aware of what they are doing in the name of scientific progress. Therefore, the ambivalent nature of scientific development – both creative and destructive – is criticised. Such criticism focuses on the interactive networks through which technicians and scientists contribute in constantly changing the world of life. This is in line with the main task of the aforementioned work, which is to develop the discussion within a semantic and decisional collective framework, politically responsible and democratically sustainable. Hence the need of a socio-anthropological investigation of a world that looks entirely determined by science and technology arises. These ensure that ‘objective’ truth and operational ability are given by universal, rather than natural and terrestrial laws. Consequently this kind of knowledge - acquired from a extra-terrestrial point of view, the Archimedean point – imposes itself on nature an human life, shading the differences between human and artificial.