A silent sense. Kant and Duchamp from a reading by Hannah Arendt

Abstract

During the nineties, two theoretical positions constructed a series of relations between the artist Marcel Duchamp’s and the philosopher Immanuel Kant’ works. In this paper, those positions are questioned to formulate a case in which a third scheme can be traced, making visible a political condition that connects them. The political condition stems from the philosophical work of Hannah Arendt, who interpreted it as a “silent sense” in Kant’s work. Since Arendt did not make any reference to the French artist, the responsibility is assumed in this writing, which takes into consideration sources that enable the political power in Marcel Duchamp’s work. Political power that can be related to the “silent sense” that Arendt postulates in Kant’s.