Summary of Simon Critchley's Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Tragedy exposes us to what we do not know about ourselves. It forces us to confront our past and its effects on us, which can be both terrifying and humbling. It helps us understand our dependence on others and the vulnerability of our existence. #2 Tragedy is the imitation of action, and action is called into question through tragedy. The experience of tragedy invites us to consider how we act in the world, and what we should do. It is not about the cultivation of a solitary life of contemplation, but the difficulty and uncertainty of action in a world defined by ambiguity. #3 The tradition yields us only ruins. The more closely we examine them, the more clearly we see how ruinous they are. But out of the ruins, no whole can be built. The tradition is dead; our task is to revivify life that has passed away. #4 The we that is found in tragedy is invitational, an invitation to visit another sense of who we are and who we might become. If we don’t accept this invitation, we risk becoming even more stupefied by the present and the onrush of the future.