Tragic Views of the Human Condition

Tragic Views of the Human Condition PDF Author: Lourens Minnema
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1441100695
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
Can tragic views of the human condition as known to Westerners through Greek and Shakespearean tragedy be identified outside European culture, in the Indian culture of Hindu epic drama? In what respects can the Mahabharata epic's and the Bhagavadgita's views of the human condition be called 'tragic' in the Greek and Shakespearean senses of the word? Tragic views of the human condition are primarily embedded in stories. Only afterwards are these views expounded in theories of tragedy and in philosophical anthropologies. Minnema identifies these embedded views of human nature by discussing the ways in which tragic stories raise a variety of anthropological issues-issues such as coping with evil, suffering, war, death, values, power, sacrifice, ritual, communication, gender, honour, injustice, knowledge, fate, freedom. Each chapter represents one cluster of tragic issues that are explored in terms of their particular (Greek, English, Indian) settings before being compared cross-culturally. In the end, the underlying question is: are Indian views of the human condition very different from Western views?

Tragic Views of the Human Condition

Tragic Views of the Human Condition PDF Author: Lourens Minnema
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1441100695
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 357

Get Book Here

Book Description
Can tragic views of the human condition as known to Westerners through Greek and Shakespearean tragedy be identified outside European culture, in the Indian culture of Hindu epic drama? In what respects can the Mahabharata epic's and the Bhagavadgita's views of the human condition be called 'tragic' in the Greek and Shakespearean senses of the word? Tragic views of the human condition are primarily embedded in stories. Only afterwards are these views expounded in theories of tragedy and in philosophical anthropologies. Minnema identifies these embedded views of human nature by discussing the ways in which tragic stories raise a variety of anthropological issues-issues such as coping with evil, suffering, war, death, values, power, sacrifice, ritual, communication, gender, honour, injustice, knowledge, fate, freedom. Each chapter represents one cluster of tragic issues that are explored in terms of their particular (Greek, English, Indian) settings before being compared cross-culturally. In the end, the underlying question is: are Indian views of the human condition very different from Western views?

Philosophy, Humor, and the Human Condition

Philosophy, Humor, and the Human Condition PDF Author: Lydia Amir
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030326713
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
This book presents an original worldview, Homo risibilis, wherein self-referential humor is proposed as the path leading from a tragic view of life to a liberating embrace of human ridicule. Humor is presented as a conceptual tool for holding together contradictions and managing the unresolvable conflict of the human condition till Homo risibilis resolves the inherent tension without epistemological cost. This original approach to the human condition allows us to effectively address life’s ambiguities without losing sight of its tragic overtones and brings along far-ranging personal and social benefits. By defining the problem that other philosophies and many religions attempt to solve in terms we can all relate to, Homo risibilis enables an understanding of the Other that surpasses mere tolerance. Its egalitarian vision roots an ethic of compassion without requiring metaphysical or religious assumptions and liberates the individual for action on others’ behalf. It offers a new model of rationality which effectively handles and eventually resolves the tension between oneself, others, and the world at large. Amir’s view of the human condition transcends the field of philosophy of humor. An original worldview that fits the requirements of traditional philosophy, Homo risibilis is especially apt to answer contemporary concerns. It embodies the minimal consensus we need in order to live together and the active role philosophy should responsibly play in a global world. Here developed for the first time in a complete way, the Homo risibilis worldview is not only liberating in nature, but also illuminates the shortcomings of other philosophies in their attempts to secure harmony in a disharmonious world for a disharmonious human being.

Tragic Views of the Human Condition

Tragic Views of the Human Condition PDF Author: Lourens Minnema
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 572

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Book Description


Ancient Greeks on the Human Condition

Ancient Greeks on the Human Condition PDF Author: Matthew Sims
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476642680
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
This book examines the writings of four ancient Greeks-Homer, Thucydides, Euripides, and Aristophanes. Each of these four individuals represents a different approach toward the human condition, ranging from the heroic and tragic to the comic and absurd. This book focuses on how the human condition can best be understood within the framework of these four perspectives by examining the major contributions of these Greek writers, whether in the form of epic (Homer's Iliad), history (Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War), or drama (the plays of Euripides and Aristophanes). These various perceptions of Greek thought illuminate our understanding of what it means to be fully human. By focusing on the concepts of the heroic, tragic, comic, and absurd, we can see how these ancient Greek authors still provide key insights for us today as they clarify those timeless features that define the human condition.

Homer and the Dual Model of the Tragic

Homer and the Dual Model of the Tragic PDF Author: Yoav Rinon
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
A probing and much needed examination of "the tragic" as a concept distinct from tragedy as a genre

A Conflict of Visions

A Conflict of Visions PDF Author: Thomas Sowell
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465004660
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Thomas Sowell’s “extraordinary” explication of the competing visions of human nature lie at the heart of our political conflicts (New York Times) Controversies in politics arise from many sources, but the conflicts that endure for generations or centuries show a remarkably consistent pattern. In this classic work, Thomas Sowell analyzes this pattern. He describes the two competing visions that shape our debates about the nature of reason, justice, equality, and power: the "constrained" vision, which sees human nature as unchanging and selfish, and the "unconstrained" vision, in which human nature is malleable and perfectible. A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks.

The Tragic Sense of Life in Men and in Peoples

The Tragic Sense of Life in Men and in Peoples PDF Author: Miguel de Unamuno
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Immortality
Languages : en
Pages : 1500

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Book Description


Culture, Suicide, and the Human Condition

Culture, Suicide, and the Human Condition PDF Author: Marja-Liisa Honkasalo
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1782382356
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Suicide is a puzzling phenomenon. Not only is its demarcation problematic but it also eludes simple explanation. The cultures in which suicide mortality is high do not necessarily have much else in common, and neither is a single mental illness such as depression sufficient to lead a person to suicide. In a word, despite its statistical regularity, suicide is unpredictable on the individual level. The main argument emerging from this collection is that suicide should not be understood as a separate realm of pathological behavior but as a form of human action. As such it is always dependent on the decision that the individual makes in a cultural, ethical and socio-economic context, but the context never completely determines the decision. This book also argues that cultural narratives concerning suicide have a problematic double function: in addition to enabling the community to make sense of self-inflicted death, they also constitute a blueprint depicting suicide as a solution to common human problems.

Le Corbusier and the Tragic View of Architecture

Le Corbusier and the Tragic View of Architecture PDF Author: Charles Jencks
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description


Facing Tragedies

Facing Tragedies PDF Author: Christopher Hamilton
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 3643500696
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
The essays in this volume grew out of the reflections and discussions conducted during the second international conference "Impulses from Salzburg" from May 6 to 9, 2008, on "Facing Tragedies". In accordance with the aims of this project, participants were asked to reflect not simply on the nature and meaning of tragedy but also on ways in which those who are the victims of tragedy make sense of, or cope with, their condition. It was recognised that abstract reflection is important in this regard, but also that such reflection must be rooted in ordinary, everyday. experience, and thus the conference had as one of its aims the attempt to ensure that philosophical reflection not lose the moorings it needs in the reality of ordinary life.