Privacy, Property, and Third-Party Esteem in Arendt’s Constitutionalism

Emmett McGroarty () and Brendan McGroarty
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Emmett McGroarty: Honors College, Belmont Abbey College, Belmont, NC 28012, USA
Brendan McGroarty: Independent Researcher, Portage, MI 49002, USA

Laws, 2023, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-25

Abstract: In On Revolution , Hannah Arendt makes the case that a constitution must account for the need of the human person to participate in the building of society, both as a primordial and continual action of founding. This paper draws on Arendt’s insight on the relationship between privacy and the notion of property, both of which the constitution must protect, as it is dependent on those notions. Property in its fullest sense is the means by which a person interacts with others and establishes a society. Particularly important for this notion of engagement are the concepts of shame and the love of goodness. The actor emerges from the private sphere to interact with others on the strength of the secrecy and confidentiality of her intimate, private relationships. Property is therefore essential to human flourishing and happiness. Following this, the activity of constructing the public forum on the basis of the private is an important feature of Arendt’s constitutionalism. Human Action showers third-party esteem on the actor’s family and friends, binding them to the constitutional structure and strengthening familial relationships and social cohesion.

Keywords: Arendt; constitutionalism; property; privacy; esteem; human condition; public freedom; Human Action; Tocqueville; totalitarianism; tyranny; third-party esteem; shame (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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