| Publisher |
Cosimo Classics |
| Publication Year |
2008 |
| ISBN-13 |
9781605203553 |
| ISBN-10 |
9781605203553 |
| Binding |
Paperback |
| Number of Pages |
68 Pages |
| Language |
(English) |
| Weight (grms) |
90 |
The writings of Greek philosopher ARISTOTLE (384BC-322BC)--student of Plato, teacher of Alexander the Great--are among the most influential on Western thought, and indeed upon Western civilization itself. From theology and logic to politics and even biology, there is no area of human knowledge that has not been touched by his thinking. Poetics--one of Aristotle's greatest works--is the philosopher's grand and insightful essay on art and its purposes. Why must a story have a beginning, a middle, and an end? How can we define tragedy, and what is the artistic purpose of it? Is there one "ideal" kind of drama? What is the nature of poetry? How consciously should poets and playwrights construct their work? All these questions, and others, are discussed and debated in this, perhaps the single most significant text in Western critical tradition. Writers, actors, students of literature, and armchair philosophers will find it a challenging--and rewarding--read.
Aristotle
Ancient Greek philosopher, psychologist, moralist, scientist, metaphysician, and pioneer of formal logic, Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Stagira, Chalcidice, Northern Greece. He lost his parents in his childhood, and moved to Athens at the age of seventeen. There he enrolled in Plato’s Academy where he spent almost twenty years, first as a pupil and then as a teacher and writer. Of the dialogues he wrote, only fragments survive. Physics—a work on Western science and philosophy; Metaphysics—a book examining existence; Nicomachean Ethics—a book on Aristotelian ethics; Politics—a work of political philosophy; De Anima (On the Soul); and Poetics—a philosophical treatise on literary theory; are among his important treaties. Poetics is his first extant work of dramatic theory. It has been guiding playwrights for centuries now, and still continues to remain a powerful benchmark for literary evaluation. Poetics and Rhetoric are Aristotle’s remarkable contributions to literary criticism. He continues to remain a notable intellectual figure of Western history.
Aristotle
Cosimo Classics