Tragedy, the Greeks and Us
by Simon Critchley
“What if we took seriously the form of thinking that we find in tragedy, and the experience of partial agency, limited autonomy, deep traumatic affect, agnostic conflict, gender confusion, political complexity, and moral ambiguity that it presents?” — Simon Critchley in Tragedy, the Greeks and Us
‘Critchley on Tragedy’ is one of the most popular courses at The New School in New York City. After 10 years of teaching it, philosopher Simon Critchley has crystallised it into Tragedy, The Greeks and Us. In this book, he explores the worldview of ancient tragedy, revealing a world of “ambiguity, duplicity, uncertainty, and unknowability”, and relates it to our contemporary concerns. He often traces the ideas of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides to centuries of later literary and philosophical tradition.
Simon Critchley has spoken to Five Books about the best continental philosophy books.
