The Tragic

The paradox of tragedy is introduced in this chapter. It is noted that it is harder to value real-life tragedies or suffering than artistic tragedies. Accounts attempting to reconcile us with tragedy by means of the overall beauty of the world are too distanced and callous. An account of the value of tragedy that is simultaneously ethically appropriate is required. It is argued that tragic works of art are ethically appropriate when they properly acknowledge suffering. The same is possible for real-life tragedy. Meanwhile, tragic works of art help us to see that we can positively value individuals for their own sake—described as sympathetic value—even while we do not value those individuals’ suffering. Sympathetic value is also applicable to bad people. Finally the possibility of sympathetic objects is introduced, and connected with the Japanese aesthetic concept of ‘wabi’.