HANNAH ARENDT:

: IN THE FACE OF THE FRAGILITY OF THE WORLD, THE MODESTY OF THE CRITIC

Abstract

This text was written as a reaction to the chapter "The fragile world in the in-between: totalitarian destruction and the modesty of critical thinking - Hannah Arendt" (chapter 5) in Rodrigo Cordeiro's book, "Crisis and Criticism". I therefore reflect on the modest role of the intellectual in the face of the world and its crises, based on Cordeiro's reading of the German philosopher. I try to present indications of Arendt's perception of public intellectuals, not only in her criticism of "professionals", but also based on the qualities she identified, for example, in the behavior of Socrates and Karl Jaspers. The intellectual then appears as a flâneur who is able to step away from the incessant rhythm of life, observe the flow and then stop to think. Subsequently, the intellectual's modest role is understood as that of "guardian" and guarantor of the existence of the necessary space between men in which humanity, and the public world itself, can express itself - the in-between.