Benedetto 1
Olivia Benedetto
POLITSCI 3430
Midterm Paper
22 September 2021
After reading Hannah Arendt’s Freedom and Politics, as well as Friedrich
Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty, it is easy to follow that the two differ in their
individual distinct theories of freedom. I do not find Arendt’s theory to be very
persuasive. This is due to the fact she heavily emphasizes- throughout the explanation of
her theory– that the purpose of politics is freedom. While this is true to an extent, there
are plenty of unfree countries that are politically motivated for reasons other than
freedom. While Hannah Arendt’s theory may be easier to understand and apply to any
given circumstance, Friedrich Hayek’s theory, if understood, makes the most sense. In
my opinion, this is because Friedrich Hayek’s theory of freedom gives a much more
descriptive background into what freedom is. Hayek includes a clear-cut definition of
freedom in addition to using examples such as the rock-climber example, which is solid
and easy to follow. Thus, making Hayek’s theory a much easier theory to relate to
contemporary events across the world.
Before Hannah Arendt elaborates on her theory and personal definition of
freedom, she asks that the reader reflects on how mankind typically learns about freedom.
She goes on to explain that as individuals, we learn about freedom by experiencing a
Benedetto 2
condition of being and feeling free amongst other individuals as a worldly, tangible
reality. In other words, Arendt is explaining that people need to be in a public space- with
some kind of structure and political organization to truly internalize what freedom is.
So, it is necessary that we ask ourselves: why does Arendt believe we need other
people in such institutions in order for us to be free? Her response is that interactions with
people are what give us a desire to be free. In a vacuum, there is no reason that people
would want freedom because there would not be a way to experience it through action.
Arendt’s account of freedom is that the first instance where we all experience freedom is
through the company of others, or more specifically, by relating to other people in one
