鄂蘭的政治本體論：一個從時間維度來詮釋共和主義的嘗試

On Hannah Arendt’s Theory of Political Ontology─An Interpretation of Republicanism from the Perspective of Temporality

本文旨在論證時間維度對漢娜‧鄂蘭（Hannah Arendt）的政治思想之重要性，並藉此將她關於政治生活的根本條件、意義，以及在現代世界當中的各種威脅與危機，重建為一個在看重個人作為一種「開端」（initium）的能力、政治制度的創建、多元性（plurality）的同時，也兼顧一個政治共同體的延續、既有制度的守護和社群共感（sensus communis）的政治本體論（ontology of politics）。這一個政治本體論設想的人與人，尤其是前人與後人的夥伴關係，是一種敘事的共享：生者能不斷重講前人事蹟並以自己的角色來參與，守護既有的共同體，且運作上也不以扭曲歷史或限制後人增添屬於他們的新情節之機會。這種以故事和角色參與為基礎的「敘事共時性」（narrative synchronicity），也指向了重新理解鄂蘭的共和主義（republicanism）的方向。

By taking Hannah Arendt’s ideas related to temporality, this paper interprets her political thought as a systematic theory of political ontology, concerning: (1) how political life could emerge out of free and equal interactions between individuals; (2) how political life, with“plurality”as its very necessary and sufficient condition, could further evolve into a“body politic”with a“sensus communis”as well as a specific type of institution, and (3) how various concepts of history or worldview, especially those structured by“an image of making”, could not only throw the body politic into crisis, but also threaten the very political life per se. What runs through this theory is a sense of“synchronicity”which may be understood as a“narrative temporality”, according to which only when each individual can find his/her own“character”to participate in the existing political story can the community thrive or, when it comes to a critical time, can survive; otherwise, people may decide to start a new story of their own and find a new state instead. This paper argues that the extent to which Arendt may be understood to be a“republican”thinker lies in the way she responded to various political crises in her adopted country, the United States.