Tragedy and Political Theory

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Tragedy is a word we use for when things go terribly wrong. Classic tragic dramas feature sons who kill their fathers and wed their mothers, sons who kill their mothers and are driven insane, and uncles who execute their nieces. In nearly all of these and other instances that are called tragic, there is an insoluble conflict between two different actors and their irreconcilable worldviews. The most troubling thing about tragedy is that it happens not because of the actors' baseness or ignorance, but because they are righteously committed to what they think is good or just. This unwavering commitment to a moral or ethical principle is the basis of the concept we will explore in this course: tragic conflict of values. We will read several classic texts of political philosophy to ask and perhaps answer the following questions about tragedy and tragic conflicts: Is it possible to live a good life without an almost irrational commitment to a worldview? What is a moral value? Are all values compatible or commensurable, or is it inevitable that certain values (truth, justice, peace, love) will clash with others? Could there ever be a state or common form of life in which the values of individuals are universally shared? Is democracy a form of government that encourages value plurality or homogeneity? We will spend most of our time reading political philosophy from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Weber, and Heidegger. We will also spend some time with Plato and the Ancient Greek tragedians to understand the historical origins of the concept of tragedy that has proved so enduring in political thought. Each of the thinkers on our syllabus will help us confront the possibility of the tragedy of human life: that is, that human life, especially political life, may involve individuals in potentially dangerous commitments or entanglements that they cannot foresee and from which they cannot escape. While for some of our thinkers it is desirable to reduce the possibility of tragic dilemmas, other of our listed thinkers view the possibility of tragedy as a prime condition for a good life. The goal is that the student leave this course with a greater knowledge of political philosophy but also possess a better understanding of him or herself and the values that they hold.