3 to 7 pm room 324 rogers-stout hall

topics and speakers

James Cronin: A Critique of Aristotle's Tragic Hero
Commentators: Nadia Sabri and Ravin Mehta

Is Aristotle's conception of the thespian tragic hero outdated? In this wide-ranging essay, James Cronin responds to this question with an analysis of Aristotle's overall theory of tragedy, a few modern revisions of the theory and a comparison between ancient and modern tragic plays. Given the stunning conceptual and empirical evidence he continuously mounts in the paper, Cronin ends by rejecting the Aristotelian model of the tragic hero and calls for a more accurate and modern model.

Steven Edwards: On Catharsis
Commentator: Fred Poag

Aristotle says that tragic plays produce the "catharsis" of pity and fear, but what is "catharsis?" More ink has been spilled over this single word than any other in the Aristotelian corpus; Steven Edwards tries to give a brief overview of four commonly held positions on the matter. After critiquing all four, Edwards then carves out his own interpretation in the millennia-old debate.

Patrick Fessenbecker: Nussbaum and Posner: A Critical Discussion
Commentator: Colin Lokey

Can literature convey ethical truths better than philosophy? If so, why? Patrick Fessenbecker carefully expounds the philosophy of Martha Nussbaum, who answers this question in the affirmative with the help of an Aristotelian ethical framework; he then comes to Nussbaum's defense by fielding five challenging criticisms brought against her by Richard Posner, skillfully acknowledging the validity of Posner's attacks while simultaneously using them to strengthen Nussbaum's original position.

Ryan Tucker: A Critique of Harris’ Survival Lottery
Commentator: Charlie Cronin

Is there a difference between killing a person and letting a person die? What effect does the answer have on the issue of the organ shortage crisis? In this illuminatingly thought-provoking article, Ryan Tucker examines this question as well as the ethicality of a controversial program proposed by philosopher John Harris: killing healthy people, by way of random number lottery, for people in need of transplant organs. He eventually sides against this strange idea but in a way that is both unexpected and surprising.