« Socrate, dit-on, n’allait pas à la tragédie », écrit Clément Rosset dans son livre Philosophie tragique. Selon la philosophe américaine Martha C. Nussbaum, c’est spécifiquement cette pulsion anti-tragique qui caractériserait la philosophie dès Platon. Au XIXe siècle, le Nietzsche de La naissance de la tragédie avait déjà déclaré le meurtre de la tragédie par la philosophie ; bien que Nussbaum soit généralement en accord avec le diagnostic du philosophe allemand, elle y apporte un élément novateur. De fait, elle voit dans la philosophie aristotélicienne une brèche dans la tradition : un contre-argument à la théorie platonicienne ainsi qu’une continuité de la pensée tragique. Premier penseur de la tragédie, Aristote accordait déjà une part importante à la fortune (tuchè) dans sa théorie éthique. Or, cette vulnérabilité ontologique, c’est-à-dire le fait que l’être humain soit jusqu’à un certain point à la merci de forces qui le dépassent, phénomène que nous tenterons de penser sous le mode de la teneur tragique de l’existence, serait précisément ce qui permettrait, selon notre auteure, de fonder une philosophie contemporaine « pleinement humaine ». Cependant, pour appréhender le tragique, l’être percevant doit présenter une organisation du monde lui permettant de le voir comme tel. Pour Nussbaum, cette reconfiguration du vécu serait possible par l’imagination ; plus spécifiquement, par la littérature. Plus encore, l’imagination morale ici proposée par notre auteur serait à proprement parler cette rencontre avec la composante fondamentalement tragique de la vie. Nous pouvons donc dire que, en s’appuyant sur la méthode aristotélicienne ainsi que sur l’expérience tragique, l’auteure se situe dans la tradition d’un questionnement sur la notion d’imagination morale, et y apporte une contribution riche et particulière. / “Socrates, it is said, did not attend to tragedies,” wrote Clement Rosset in his book Tragic Philosophy. According to the American philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum, it is specifically this anti-tragic impulse that has characterized philosophy since Plato. In the nineteenth century, the Nietzsche of The Birth of Tragedy had already declared the murder of tragedy by philosophy; although Nussbaum generally agrees with the diagnosis of the German philosopher, she adds an innovative element to it. Indeed, she sees in Aristotelian philosophy a breach in tradition: a counterargument to Platonist theory as well as a continuity of tragic thought. Aristotle, the first great thinker of tragedy, had already given an important role to fortune (tuchè) in his ethical theory. However, this ontological vulnerability, that is the fact that human beings are to a certain extent at the mercy of forces beyond their control, a phenomenon that we will try to think of as the tragic content of existence, would be precisely what, according to our author, would make it possible to found a contemporary philosophy that is “fully human”. However, in order to apprehend this tragic component, the perceiving being must present an organization of the world that allows him to see it as such. For Nussbaum, this reconfiguration of experience would be possible through imagination; more specifically, through literature. Moreover, the moral imagination hereby proposed by our author is, specifically, the encounter with life’s fundamentally tragic components. We can therefore say that, by relying on the Aristotelian method as well as on tragic experience, Nussbaum belongs to a tradition that addresses the notion of moral imagination and makes a rich and particular contribution to it.

Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway met in Key West in 1937, married in 1941, and divorced in 1945. Gellhorn's work exhibits a strong influence from Hemingway's work, including collaboration on her work during their marriage. I will discuss three of her six novels: WMP (1934), Liana (1944), and Point of No Return (1948). The areas of influence that I will rely on in many ways follow the stages Harold Bloom outlines in Anxiety of Influence. Gellhorn's work exposes a stage of influence that Bloom does not describe-which I term collaborative. By looking at Hemingway's influence in Gellhorn's writing the difference between traditional literary influence and collaborative influence can be compared and analyzed, revealing the footprints left in a work by a collaborating author as opposed to simply an influential one.

The education of the emotions is a valuable tool not always taken into account in the development of the democratic, egalitarian background essential to empower citizens. Perhaps the difficulty lies in the fact that, firstly, it is necessary to probe the possibilities of educability of emotions. Martha Nussbaum is one of the contemporary philosophers who have devoted much of their work to the study of emotions, and from her theory, conclusions can be drawn about the question of their educability. Her theory of emotions can be situated within a set of theories that understand emotions as cognitive, which turns literature into a useful tool for their education. However, the author does not put forward an explicit methodology for such development from narrative. To this end, in this interview Nussbaum is asked about the concept of self-conscious reflection as a feasible proposal to enable the education of emotions, as well as about whether a list of democratic emotions” can be built from her theory. Also, in this context, Nussbaum responds and elaborates on these themes. / La educación de las emociones es un valioso instrumento no siempre tomado en cuenta para el desarrollo de un trasfondo valorativo igualitario y  democrático  indispensable  para  la  autonomía  de  los  ciudadanos.  Tal  vez  la dificultad radique en que, en primer lugar, es necesario sondear las posibilidades de la educabilidad de las emociones. Martha Nussbaum es una de las filósofas contemporáneas que han dedicado gran parte de su obra al estudio de las emociones, y de su teoría pueden derivarse conclusiones acerca de la pregunta de su educabilidad. Su teoría de las emociones se circunscribe dentro de un conjunto de teorías que consideran a las emociones como cognitivas, y eso convierte a la literatura en una útil herramienta para su educación. Sin embargo, la autora no explicita una metodología que permita dicho desarrollo desde las narraciones. A  estos  efectos,  en  esta  entrevista  se  le  propone  el  concepto  de  autorreflexión como posibilitador de ello, a la vez que se busca reconstruir a partir de su teoría un listado de emociones democráticas”. Asimismo, en este contexto, Nussbaum responde y profundiza acerca de estas temáticas.

The interpretation and performance of literature is a theatre art in which literary texts are transformed into staged productions. Novelists, poets, playwrights, and essayists use the symbols of written language to create an imagined world for their readers; interpretative performers present their audiences with this world through symbols of both speech and movement. Hence the interpretation and performance of literature incorporates a wide range of literary and performance theory. Unfortunately, little is known about how literary texts can be communicated through symbolic movement. The purpose of this study, then, is to propose principles of stylized movement which would be useful to the interpretative performer of literature. To develop these principles, Martha Graham's choreographic use of classical tragedy was investigated. Using a decriptive methodology based on Aristotle's elements of tragedy, four of Graham's ballets were analyzed in view of their literary sources: Cave of the Heart from Euripides' Medea, Night Journey from Sophocles' Oedipus the King, Clytemnestra from Aeschylus' The Oresteia, and Cortege of Eagles from Euripides' Hecuba and The Trojan Woman. As a result of this investigation, five principles emerged. Stated as descriptions of Graham's work, the principles are: (1) rhetoric shapes the form, (2) movement vocabularies are created, (3) synecdochical movement is expanded over time, (4) stage properties assume multiple meanings through movement, and (5) costumes expose movement and indicate character. By using these principles as guidelines, the interpretative performer may understand, create, and utilize stylized movement that communicates the ideas, images, and actions inherent in the text being staged.

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Aristotle’s articulation of a correct state is inherently socially hierarchical. This has led many scholars to view the functionalist approach as being at odds with the inherent equality of persons that is taken for granted in contemporary political theory. My thesis therefore aims to offer a defence of functionalist theory, demonstrating that it can be formulated to respect the functioning of every individual. In Chapter 1, I examine the key Aristotelian concept of natural justice. In order to draw out the subtleties of natural justice, I compare it with Cicero’s articulation of natural law. In Chapter 2, I compare and contrast Martha Nussbaum’s and Aristotle’s articulations of political philosophy. In Chapter 3, I examine the Aristotelian notion of friendship by considering the work of Cooper and Bentley. I argue against most contemporary theorists that Aristotle’s basic understanding of human relationships is altruistic. / Graduate / 0422

Thesis (M.A.)--Villanova University, 2008. / English Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2004. / For string quartet and lyric soprano. Vita. Acc. tape includes recording of work.