Tragedy of Philosophy

Andrew Cooper is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Bonn, Germany.

• PrefaceNote on CitationsIntroductionTragedy in contemporary philosophyMethod in the history of philosophyOverviewPart I. Kant’s Critique of Judgment1. From Disembodied Soul to Embodied MindThe problem of lifeThe generation dilemmaThe rationalist responseThe empiricist responseEmbodied mind2. Reflective JudgmentThe need for a third Critique The power of judgmentBeauty and purposivenessThe antinomy of teleological judgmentFrom system to method3. The Ethical TurnReason’s double bindThe spiritual character of artSynthesizing nature and freedomAn enlarged way of thinkingPart II. Tragedy after Kant4. Hegel: The Philosophy of TragedyAestheticsA theory of tragedyInterpreting HegelTragedy and history5. Nietzsche: Tragic PhilosophySchopenhauer’s metaphysicsThe Apollinian and the DionysianThe death and rebirth of tragedyTragedy and ethics6. Heidegger: Greek TragedyPhilosophy and politicsIntroduction to Metaphysics Hölderlin’s Hymn Tragedy and Being7. Castoriadis: Tragedy and Self-formationIdentitary logicImagination and representationTragedy and self-formationTragedy and philosophyConclusionImaginationEthical complexityUniversalityTransforming philosophy NotesBibliographyIndex

"…ambitious … Cooper's book offers a careful, critical account of several modern European philosophies of tragic drama and poetry, focusing on the work of Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Castoriadis … [it] is clear, compelling, and insightful. It will be valuable for those interested in theories of tragedy, the development of modern philosophical aesthetics, and Kant's critical system." — Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism