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On Germans and Other Greeks: Tragedy and Ethical Life by Dennis J. Schmidt

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On Germans and Other Greeks: Tragedy and Ethical Life Dennis J. Schmidt
Language: English
Page: 360
Format: pdf
ISBN: 0253338689, 9780253338686
Publisher: Indiana University Press

From Library Journal

This rewarding new book by Schmidt (The Ubiquity of the Finite; philosophy, Villanova Univ.) explores the fixation on Greek tragedy of major post-Kant- ian German thinkers including Hegel, Schelling, Nietzsche, and Heidegger and the Romantic poet H lderlin. By offering a fresh reading of Hegel's influential interpretation of Sophocles' Antigone as a paradigmatic text about ethics, Schmidt debunks the twin clich s of German thinking as either tyrannically enthralled by or in competition with Greek antiquity. A careful reconstruction of Plato's and Aristotle's analyses of tragedy as potentially edifying representations of human suffering is supplemented by evidence of how H lderlin, Nietzsche, and Heidegger resisted becoming the mere chorus to Hegel's powerful voice, and how the confrontation with tragedy compelled German philosophy to break free of longstanding metaphysical, Cartesian assumptions. Supplementing the philosophical readings of tragedy by contemporary thinkers such as Martha Nussbaum and Judith Butler, this deeply felt book suggests that tragedies offer insights into ethical truth even and especially for our post-historical age. The book includes apt translations of several key texts from the German idealist tradition, some rendered in English for the first time. Recommended for academic libraries and specialized collections in literature and philosophy. Ulrich Baer, New York Univ. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Schmidt's investigation of tragedy is a highly significant, powerful work, one with far reaching consequences. It bears on our understanding of the role of the arts and of philosophical thinking in our culture." --Rodolphe Gasch