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Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy
SCMP News: June 2007
Philosophy seminar - Tuesday June 5, 11am-1pm
The next Macquarie University Philosophy seminar will be held on Tuesday
June 5, 11am-1pm, in Room 107, W6A.
DR CATHARINE ABELL (Philosophy, Macquarie) will present a paper entitled
"The Aesthetic Value of Literary Tragedy".
Abstract:
Literary tragedy is often thought to present a paradox. We seem to derive
pleasure from tragedies, and this pleasure appears to depend on their
causing us to experience negative emotions such as pity, fear and sorrow.
However, the experience of such emotions seems intrinsically unpleasant.
While some have sought to show that pleasure in tragedy is not paradoxical,
others simply deny that tragedy is a source of pleasure. Instead, they
claim, we value tragedy for its cognitive and/or moral benefits. My account
lies between these two approaches. I enumerate a number of constraints on
any adequate account of the aesthetic value of tragedy and evaluate existent
explanations of this value according to their ability to meet these
constraints. This leads me to reject existing hedonic theories of tragedy. I
then defend a cognitivist theory of tragedy, according to which it has a
distinctive aesthetic value because it can provide justified beliefs about
what it is like to suffer. Such beliefs have inherent epistemic value. My
theory meets the constraints on an adequate account of tragedy. Moreover,
although I deny that the distinctive value of tragedy is hedonic, it enables
me to explain why tragedies, like other literary works, are a source of
Anthropology Colloquium - Thursday 10:30 - 12:30
We're very pleased to be hosting Ana Dragojlovic, of Australian National University, this Thursday in the Macquarie University Department of Anthropology Colloquium series. She will be presenting a paper, entitled: 'Performing "Balinese-ness": "lessons in culture" and contested Balinese identities in the Netherlands.' All are welcome to attend.The colloquium meets Thursday from 10:30 to 12:30 in the Anthropology Seminar Room, C3A 630
If you have any questions, please contact Jovan Maud (jmaud@scmp.mq.edu.au) or Greg Downey (greg.downey@scmp.mq.edu.au).