Freedom of movement in Hannah Arendt

Abstract

The concept of freedom of movement plays a crucial work in Hannah Arendt’s work. The German author tells us that it is the most ancient freedom and also the most elementary. Freedom of movement becomes the indispensable condition for action, in the Arendtian sense of the word. The author, who was a refugee immigrant, pursued by the Nazis and locked away in an internment camp by the French government, considers any limitation on freedom of movement to be a prior condition of slavery. But freedom of movement underpins freedom of thought, which is fundamental to break out of our shackles, ridding ourselves of the testaments of traditions and other ideological straightjackets or the frenetic mental activity involved in breathing, which leaves no room for genuine thinking or judgement. Thus, Arendt is very clear that, parallel to the freedom of movement in the physical world, there must also be freedom of the mind. It is an issue that has concerned her from the beginning of her work. When asked about freedom, Arendt will always move her argument through plurality, solitude and friendship and take it into a more internal realm. Starting with Lessing, the author attempts to break away from her own fears regarding the breakdown of identity. This is where Arendt encounters the greatest problems, as she comes across the axiom of non-contradiction, which she rejects and accepts with what entails a brave contradiction that leads us towards an essential aspect of her thought.