AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF UMIT KARTAL, for the Master of Arts degree in PHILOSOPHY, presented on September 29, 2011, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: PUBLIC SPACE MUST BE DEFENDED. HANNAH ARENDT'S CONCEPTION OF POLITICS AND THE PUBLIC SPACE: ITS PROMISES AND LIMITS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Kenneth Stikkers This thesis is an examination of Hannah Arendt's reconsideration of the meaning of politics and her systematic search for the recovery of the public spaces. Her scrutiny of the meaning of politics is determined by the disastrous outcomes of totalitarian experiences from both ends of the political spectrum, namely, Nazism and Stalinism. For Arendt, the phenomenon of totalitarianism deserted the human world and brought new issues forth, such as statelessness, rightlessness, homelessness, and worldlessness. These phenomena, Arendt holds, run parallel to the collapse of the essential articulations of the human condition, which can be distinguished in sheer thoughtlessness, speechlessness, and lack of judgment. It is due to these unprecedented and unanticipated issues, which cannot be addressed by traditional political categories, Arendt invites us to grapple with the meaning of politics anew. The basic definition of politics, for Arendt, is human plurality, namely, our coexistence in a common world which enables differences and diversities of perspectives to appear. The question what politics means, for Arendt, is inextricably tied to what its distinctive locus is, namely, the public space or space of appearances. The emergence of the social resulted in blurring the distinctive line between the public realm and the private realm. Then, the recovery of the public space is of a central place in Arendt's political theory. Through Arendt's reconsideration of the meaning of politics and the recovery of the public space we are provided a comprehensive framework to think about a more inclusive and democratic politics. Nevertheless, we are challenged by a set of problems: a very sharp distinction between the public realm and the private realm, a contrast between the social and political, and a lack of systematic interest in democracy. First, I concentrate on Arendt's insightful analysis of politics and the public space in turn. Then I focus on the problematic aspects of her political theory. Finally, I argue that these problematic aspects can be complemented by a comparative reading of Arendt with John Dewey. I conclude that Dewey offers us a more dynamic criterion to decide the line between the private realm and the public realm. Instead of opposing the social to political, Dewey extends the scope of politics by taking every aspects of social life into consideration. The recovery of the public, for him, depends essentially on democracy, which is identified to the experience of local community.

Les libertés publiques sont connues et réclamées par tous et partout. Elles doivent être protégées contre toute atteinte. Les atteintes portées aux libertés publiques le sont souvent par l'administration. La première institution à garantir les libertés publiques contre l'administration est le juge administratif, son juge ordinaire. Le juge administratif est le juge de l'administration, il juge son action, annule ou confirme ses décisions et lui adresse même des injonctions. La jurisprudence administrative montre que le juge administratif utilise souvent tous les instruments dont il dispose pour protéger les libertés publiques contre les atteintes qui leur sont portées par l'administration. Parmi ces instruments figurent l'interprétation étroite des cas d'incompétence du juge administratif en la matière, l'assouplissement du régime de recevabilité du recours, l'application extensive du référé-liberté, la faculté de compléter la lacune législative qui est d'ailleurs large et voulue dans le droit administratif, la création des principes généraux du droit, dont les plus importants sont le principe du caractère exceptionnel des limites aux libertés publiques et surtout des mesures de police et le principe d'égalité, l'interprétation restrictive des lois défavorables aux libertés publiques, l'interprétation extensive des lois favorables aux libertés publiques et l'engagement de la responsabilité publique au service des libertés publiques. / Public freedoms are known and demanded by everyone, everywhere. They must be protected against any attack. The infringements of public freedoms are often by the administration. The first institution to guarantee public freedoms against the administration is the administrative judge, his regular judge. The administrative judge is the judge of the administration, he consider his action, rescind or conform its decisions and directed her orders. The administrative case law shows that the administrative judge often uses all the instruments at its disposal to protect public freedoms against violations by the administration. These instruments include the narrow interpretation of the cases of incompetence of the administrative judge in the matter, easing the admissibility of the action plan, the extensive application of the petition for freedom, the ability to complete the legislative gap that is to also broad and deliberate in administrative law, the creation of general principles of law, the most important being the principle of the exceptional character of limits on public freedoms and especially of the police measures and the principle of equality, the restrictive interpretation of laws unfavorable to public freedoms, the broad interpretation of laws favorable to public freedoms and the commitment of public responsibility in the service of public freedoms.