ABSTRACT
The monograph concludes with an analysis of Che Guevara in terms of Weber’s antimony between an “ethic of conviction” and an “ethic of responsibility.” It suggests that there is often an underground relationship between utopian morality and nihilism; between a hatred of society that gives way to the possibility of radical change, but which ultimately manifests more deeply as destructiveness. It finally offers Arendt and Auden as templates of what a mature, nuanced and encompassing political consciousness looks like; a healthy antidote to fanaticism on the one side, and to quietism, withdrawal and nihilism on the other. In Arendt and Auden, we bear witness to a tough-minded attempt to face reality without the blinkers of illusion. Yet, despite their sceptical anti-utopianism and their refusal of moral absolutes, they both remain concerned with the survival of an ethical personality.
