Violent Technologies: A Historico-Philosophical Analysis

When focusing on her famous essay on violence, it is often claimed by scholars that Hannah Arendt is diametrically opposed to both Walter Benjamin and Georges Sorel. Arendt, some say, would see violence exclusively as a means to an end, while the two others would also think about violence in non-instrumental terms. In my contribution, I show that the relationship between these three great names in critical theory of violence is more complicated than is often assumed. Benjamin also thinks about violence in instrumental terms, and Arendt’s thinking is less instrumental than is usually claimed.