The Multiplied Mind Perspectival Thinking in Arendt, Koestler, Orwell

Abstract This article examines a dramatic aporia in modern European intellectual history, involving what it calls “perspectival thinking”—a way of thinking in which an individual assumes and thinks from the perspectives of others. This paradox appears in the work on totalitarianism of Europe's...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHistorical reflections Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 79 - 102
Main Author Jissov, Milen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Waterloo Berghahn Books, Inc 01.03.2023
Subjects
Arendt, Hannah
Beauty
Bernstein, Richard J
Book publishing
History of ideas
Kant, Immanuel
Koestler, Arthur
Objectivity
Orwell, George
Perspectivism
Totalitarianism
New York
United Kingdom
Oceania
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Summary:Abstract This article examines a dramatic aporia in modern European intellectual history, involving what it calls “perspectival thinking”—a way of thinking in which an individual assumes and thinks from the perspectives of others. This paradox appears in the work on totalitarianism of Europe's three foremost thinkers on totalitarianism—Hannah Arendt, Arthur Koestler, and George Orwell. Examining their explorations of perspectival thinking, this article argues that, taken together, they are strikingly discordant. While Arendt exalts it, Koestler and Orwell problematize perspectival thinking, and Orwell even sees it as evil. The three thinkers thus articulate a dramatically polyvocal understanding of perspectival thinking, creating a remarkable dissonance in modern European thought.
ISSN:0315-7997
1939-2419
DOI:10.3167/hrrh.2023.490105