[T]he daily fight in which the human body is engaged to keep their world clean and prevent its decay bears little resemblance to heroic deeds; the endurance it needs to repair every day anew the waste of of yesterday is not courage, and what makes the effort painful is not danger but its relentless repetition.
-Hannah Arendt The Human Condition pg 101
What do you and Hercules have in common?
You have have bodies…and maybe you engage in one of the twelve heroic labors.
Let’s talk about bodies in action!
As an embodied being, there are necessities to keep that body going – one must labor for the self, family, or even larger political systems. If labor can be more than simply hunting for food, what is labor to us? Is it a private toil or political action? Does it blend the two in our modern systems of capitalism and democracies? How does it relate to societal structures and the world itself?
The Reading:
To continue our discussion of The Human Condition, please read sections 11-13 of chapter III “Labor.” If you are even slightly curious, even if you haven’t read, please join us.
Labor and Life
Monday April 24th 6-8 pm
6th Floor North Study Room
Add it to your calendar
Critical Theory Chicago 