The Philosophy of Tragedy
From Plato to Žižek

This book, written in an accessible style, is an exhaustive survey of the philosophy of tragedy from antiquity to the present.

Julian Young (Author)

9781107025059, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 June 2013

294 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

'… a model of clear philosophical prose … keen philosophical insights … Some people read books to gain understanding; I suspect Young wrote this book to gain understanding. For philosophers or anyone else interested in tragedy, we should all be glad that he did.' The British Journal of Aesthetics

This book is a full survey of the philosophy of tragedy from antiquity to the present. From Aristotle to Žižek the focal question has been: why, in spite of its distressing content, do we value tragic drama? What is the nature of the 'tragic effect'? Some philosophers point to a certain kind of pleasure that results from tragedy. Others, while not excluding pleasure, emphasize the knowledge we gain from tragedy - of psychology, ethics, freedom or immortality. Through a critical engagement with these and other philosophers, the book concludes by suggesting an answer to the question of what it is that constitutes tragedy 'in its highest vocation'. This book will be of equal interest to students of philosophy and of literature.

1. Plato
2. Aristotle
3. After Aristotle
4. Hume
5. Schelling
6. Hölderlin
7. Hegel
8. Kierkegaard
9. Schopenhauer
10. Nietzsche
11. Benjamin and Schmitt
12. Heidegger
13. Camus
14. Arthur Miller
15. Žižek
16. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], History of Western philosophy [HPC], Philosophy [HP], Literature: history & criticism [DS]