Letter from Stephen Engel
Suggestions for selections from The Human Condition

Gentlemen,

I concur with your selections for the Human Condition. I don't know
how much the Res Publicans have on their plates for the next couple of
weeks, and if it's a lot, then those pages are certainly sufficient.
The high point of the text, in my humble opinion, is found in Chapter
V, in 'The Process-Character Of Action'.

Other useful sections might be: III.12 'The Thing-Character Of The
World' (pg 93-6), in which she distinguishes between different kinds
of products, helpful for understanding the overall divisions she makes
between Labor, Work, and Action, in which she introduces her
"reification"; III.13 'Labor and Life' (pg 96-101), which supplies a
very basic relationship between labor and consumption, which supplies
a very straightforward picture of the biological process, which
divides labor into two tasks, the natural movements and the "unending
fight".

I'd prioritize VI.41 'The Reversal Of Contemplation And Action' (pg
289-294) and VI.42 'The Reversal Within The Vita Activa And The
Victory Of Homo Faber' (294-304) above the two sections mentioned in
the previous paragraph. The statement "The point was not that truth
and knowledge were no longer important, but that they could be won
only by 'action' and not by contemplation" sums up the former (pg
290). The most impressive feature of the latter section, in my eyes,
is the conceptual differentiation between Being and Process. "The
shift from the 'why' and 'what' to the 'how'" she writes, "implies
that the actual objects of knowledge can no longer be things or
eternal motions but must be processes" (296).

Again, however, I think Chapters I, III, and V are most useful to the
Publican mission. There's a lot to do with the chapters you've
chosen.

Best,
Stephen