Hannah Arendt

What it means to be human.
she wants to think through the things that people do, broadly conceived, and make sense of our life-world.
what creates a situation where we have a world of laborers.

It represents the historical longing of human beings to escape the 'bonds' of earth-bound existence. This desire represents a desire to live in a world not as given, but instead a world that we have created.

Outpaced our political/communicative capacities. It could be that we .. will forever be unable to think and speak about the things which nevertheless we are able to do.

Then we become slaves to the things we know how to do, but do not understand.

Communication. Men need to talk about something in order to make it meaningful to themselves and to eachother

A society of laborers which is about to be liberated from the fetters of labor, and this society does no longer know of those other higher and more meaningful activities

has been converted to a means of subsistence.
much more 'basic' animal life of living. This relates directly to Marx's discussion of species being.

Three fundamental human activities: Labor, Work, and
Action.

Activities that support life

Activity that corresponds to the 'unnaturalness' of human existence. It is the production of artifacts, i.e. things created by re-shaping the world, that are intended to outlive the maker. "The human condition of work is worldliness."

The only activity that goes on directly between individuals. Corresponds to Plurality.
Not matters of routine behavior but which require personal initiative.
Intended to create something entirely new.
Under certain circumstances, people create interactions, or found new forms of organization that are entirely new.
-the ability to do something that can lead to immortality.
-Action is UNPREDICTABLE and the full meaning of an event is unknown to the people who initiate it.

Plurality, and follows from plurality. because we are all the same, that is, human, in such a way that nobody is ever the same as anyone else who ever lived, lives, or will live.

Requires appearing in public, making oneself known through words and deeds, and eliciting the consent of others

Labor : Providing sustenance
Work: Creating artifacts, a sense of permanence
Action: creating the social conditions for remembrance, for history.

That which we create becomes the condition under which we live.