Comparison of Answers

Arendt gives a succinct summary of the two answers to "why do we think?" on page 162. "On the one hand, admiring wonder at the spectacle into which man is born and for whose appreciation he is so well equipped in mind and body; on the other, the awful extremity of having been thrown into a world whose hostility is overwhelming, where fear is predominant and from which man tries his utmost to escape." This clearly shows Arendt's preference for the first answer, and I must say that the Roman response was rather unsatisfying. Plato's wonder and awe, compared to the apathetic and undesirable place that the Roman's thought of as earth, is vastly preferable. Why accept an answer that degrades us and necessitates escape rather than one that champions the ability of the human race to admire what cannot be understood?