You can with a lambda:
map(lambda a: function(a[0], **a[1]), arguments)
or you could use a generator expression or list comprehension, depending on what you want:
(function(a, **k) for a, k in arguments)
[function(a, **k) for a, k in arguments]
In Python 2, map() returns a list (so the list comprehension is the equivalent), in Python 3, map() is a generator (so the generator expression can replace it).
There is no built-in or standard library method that does this directly; the use case is too specialised.