Roche-Hegel on Tragedy文档.pdf

Introduction to Hegel’s Theory of Tragedy MARK W. ROCHE Next to Aristotle’s account of tragedy, the theory of tragedy developed by the German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831) has become the most studied and quoted in the West. Tragedy arises, according to Hegel, when a hero courageously asserts a substantial and just position, but in doing so simultaneously violates a contrary and likewise just position and so falls prey to a one-sidedness that is defined at one and the same time by greatness and by guilt. Tragedy surfaces as a topic in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Mind and his Lectures on the Philosophy of History, arguably his two best known works in the Anglo-American world. In chapter five of the Phenomenology Hegel discusses character, ethical action, and guilt partly by way of an analysis of Sophocles’ Antigone . In his introduction to the Lectures on the Philosophy of History Hegel analyzes the world-historical individual who shapes history often beyond her conscious intentions; such figures emerge ahead of their time, come into conflict with their ages, and prepare a new world. In his Lectures on the History of Philosophy Hegel offers a fascinating portrait of Socrates in the light of this tragic dialectic. Also in his Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion Hegel touches on tragedy, especially in the Greek world and in relation to reconciliation. Tragedy is most prominent in Hegel’s Lectures on Aesthetics , which is one of his most accessible texts. The Aesthetics , which was compiled and edited by Hegel’s student Heinrich PhaenEx 1, no. 2 (fall/winter 2006): 11-