Abstract

In this article I explore the problem of the transition from violence to politics in Hannah Arendt’s thought from the perspective of her reflections on the question of war. My purpose is to show, in the first place, that the concept of “development” is inadequate to understand, in Arendtian terms, the passage from violence to politics and, secondly, to suggest an alternative understanding of this passage through the analysis of Arendt’s interpretation of the Greek and Roman treatment of the Trojan War. I indicate, in this way, that instead of addressing the transition as derivation or conversion, Arendt highlights the role of interruption and discontinuity in the transition from violence to politics.