Two Concepts of Understanding the Acting Subject: Arendt and Wojtyła

Piotr Mazur

doi:10.18290/rf26741.11

Published : 2026-03-25

Vol. 74 No. 1 (2026)

Two Concepts of Understanding the Acting Subject: Arendt and Wojtyła

Piotr Mazur

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6399-8133

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rf26741.11

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to compare the conceptions of the subject of action and of human nature and condition as seen by Hannah Arendt and Karol Wojtyła. Wojtyła, in accordance with the Thomistic tradition, focuses on the person as the author of moral action (“act”), through which his nature (humanity) and unique mode of existence are manifested. Arendt, on the other hand, emphasises the importance of individual subjects through action demonstrating their presence in the public sphere. In opposition to the concept of nature, the German philosopher emphasises the importance of the condition as a human mode of existence subject to both permanent and changing external conditions. Although Arendt’s and Wojtyła’s concepts differ significantly, they share an interest in human action, and their visions of nature and condition complement each other.

Keywords:

Hannah Arendt, Karol Wojtyła, human nature, human condition, acting person, acting subject, human action

Details

References

Statistics

Authors

Download files

pdf

Citation rules

Mazur, P. (2026). Two Concepts of Understanding the Acting Subject: Arendt and Wojtyła. Roczniki Filozoficzne, 74(1), 251–263. https://doi.org/10.18290/rf26741.11

Altmetric indicators

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

Arendt, Hannah. 1998. The Human Condition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. First published 1958.

Arendt, Hannah. 1979. The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harvest Book.

Conovan, Margaret. 1992. Hannah Arendt: A Reinterpretation of Her Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hołub, Grzegorz. 2021. Understanding the Person: Essays on the Personalism of Karol Wojtyła. Berlin: Peter Lang.

John Paul II. Encyclical Laborem exercens (1981). Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091981_laborem-exercens.html.

John Paul II. Letter to Artists (1999). Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/letters/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_23041999_artists.html.

Mazur, Piotr. 2024. “Two Conceptions of Understanding Human Action. Hannah Arendt and Karol Wojtyła.” Ethos 37 (2): 181–95.

Muscari, Paul G. 1988. “On Human Nature: A Look at the Subject from Karol Wojtyla’s Work The Acting Person.” The Journal of Mind and Behavior 9 (1): 13–28.

Taylor, Jameson. 2009. “Beyond Nature: Karol Wojtyla’s Development of the Traditional Definition of Personhood.” The Review of Metaphysics 63 (2): 415–54.

Tchir, Trevor. 2017. Hannah Arendt’s Theory of Political Action: Daimonic Disclosure of the ‘Who’. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tsao, Roy T. 2002. “Arendt against Athens: Rereading the Human Condition.” Political Theory 30 (1): 97–123.

Vila-Chã, João J. 1994. “The Plurality of Action. Hannah Arendt and the Human Condition.” In “Homenagem ao Prof. Doutor Josédo Patrocínio Bacelar e Oliveira.” Special issue, Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 50 (1/3): 477–84.

Wojtyła, Karol. 1959. Ocena możliwości zbudowania etyki chrześcijańskiej przy założeniach systemu Maksa Schelera. Lublin: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL.

Wojtyła, Karol. 1969. Osoba i czyn. Kraków: Polskie Towarzystwo Teologiczne.

Wojtyła, Karol. 2021a. Person and Act and Related Essays. Translated by Gregory Ignatik. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press.

Wojtyła, Karol. 2021b. “The Person Subject and Community.” In Person and Act and Related Essays, 467–513. Translated by Gregory Ignatik. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press.