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The Idea of the Tragic
Author(s) -
MARCHANT ROBERT
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
philosophical investigations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.172
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 1467-9205
pISSN - 0190-0536
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9205.1983.tb00342.x
Subject(s) - telos , tragedy (event) , action (physics) , representation (politics) , philosophy , epistemology , order (exchange) , aesthetics , literature , law , art , political science , physics , finance , quantum mechanics , politics , economics
For tragedy is a representation, not of man, but of actions and of life; the good or evil condition of men lies in action; and the telos is an action, not a characteristic. “The way people are” means their makeup; whether they are good or happy or the opposite means what they do. It is not in order to represent the human characteristics that performances are put on: characteristics, rather, are what are assumed in the dramatic performance of actions; since the deeds or story is the telos of tragedy, the telor being the most important thing.