‘Truth and Politics’,

    In her essay ‘Truth and Politics’, Hannah Arendt proposes that truth and politics have always had a rather shaky relationship. Why does she think this is the case? What does she say about lying and politics in the modern world? Do her arguments seem credible? In what ways might Arendt’s ‘Truth and Politics’ help us interpret Melville’s ‘Bartleby the Scrivener’? How might Arendt respond to Bartleby’s statement ‘I would prefer not to’? Could Bartleby’s silence or withdrawal be considered a kind of political action?