Mar 28, 2024  
Catalogue 2018-2019 
    
Catalogue 2018-2019 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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PHIL 104 - Tragedy & Philosophy: Ancient and Modern Perspectives


1 unit(s)
Since Greek antiquity, philosophers have puzzled over the meaning, value, and purpose of tragedy. This course traces their conversation from ancient Athens (Plato and Aristotle) to German Romanticism (Schiller, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche) to the present (Martha Nussbaum and Roger Scruton). Along the way we read or watch several dramatic works that have inspired the philosophical imagination, including tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Shakespeare, and Wagner. Students learn to write carefully argued analyses of challenging texts, and to reflect on broader issues of literary interpretation, canonization and genre, and the ethical significance of art. If appropriate, the class will also attend a performance by the Vassar Drama Department, a film screening, or a live broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera. Christopher Raymond.

Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2018/19.



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