Hannah Arendt, education and the potential of human power Seminar

This paper turns to Hannah Arendt's (1998, 241) discussion of 'the potentialities of human power' to sustain and not to destroy, to forgive and not to punish. To prepare the young for power is to introduce them to a plural world, to the qualities of action and spectatorship. The paper argues that this preparation should not be mistaken for empowerment, since power cannot be given to another person and, even if this were somehow possible, the young, being young, should not receive it.