Violence as Anti-Politics: A Political Philosophy Perspective

Abstract

Half a century ago, the philosopher Hannah Arendt distinguishes power from violence. Using her idea as an entry point, this paper will argue that the notion of is a contradiction in terms because violence kills politics. The paper begins with a discussion of prevalent use of the term in political science. Then it raises the question what does violence do to politics with some critique of Slovoj Zizek's current understanding of the notion of violence. It then concludes with a re-reading of Thucydides' Melian Dialogue, generally considered the pillar of realist politics, as an attempt to elucidate how violence could kill politics.