In The Death of Tragedy (1961) George Steiner observed that tragedy as a form of drama was “distinctive of Western tradition.” Today, critics and scholars are understandably impatient with this position. Indeed, Andrew Gerstle points to Japanese traditional theater to challenge the idea that there can only be one norm of the concept of the tragic. Yet both Steiner and Gerstle absolutize formalistically the power of tragic art to reveal an unalterable human condition, thereby disconnecting great literary achievements from the (...) perception of contemporary society. The argument of this essay is inspired by Raymond William’s notion of “modern tragedy,” which considers tragedy as a representation of our experience of the permanent contradictions in the process of modernization. From this perspective I critically examine the reception of traditional and modern Japanese literature in an attempt to establish through multicultural dialogue a truly inclusive framework for the interpretation of tragic art. (shrink)

In his long and productive life Joseph Margolis approached many subjects that had been the concern of philosophy all through history. However, when his texts are read carefully it is clear that his main interest was to understand humanity and its cultural values. In my text I will first introduce Margolis philosophy in general and the underlying premises that he defended throughout his work, moving on to specific claims and arguments. I will pursue my analysis through several of Margolis’ texts (...) concerning his main philosophical arguments, such as the definition of the human, relativity, ethics and aesthetics. Margolis was a prolific writer who developed his philosophy in consecutive phases, arriving in his later years to arguments that became more pointed as well as far reaching in scope. Margolis’ reasoning and argumentation proceeds in three steps: defining the problem at hand, understanding the reasonings applicable to his claim and to opposing views, reaching a solution suitable and appropriate according to the context. (shrink)