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Abstract
In Politics VII.15, Aristotle claims that the citizens of the ideal state need philosophy fortheir leisure, but as an activity practiced by all the citizens, philosophy in this context cannot be a
theoretical science such as metaphysics. Aristotle does not say precisely in what the citizens’
leisure activity is to consist, but in Politics VIII he discusses the role of music in the state, and
argues that one of its functions is to provide a leisure activity. In this dissertation, I argue that for
Aristotle the content of philosophical leisure is tragedy, which is one form of music.
I argue that according to Aristotle’s account in the Poetics, tragedy generates a kind of
philosophical activity in the audience through wonder. Although a neglected theme in the
Poetics, for Aristotle the final cause of tragedy is to provoke wonder. Furthermore, the practice
of philosophy as Aristotle presents it in the Metaphysics both begins and ends with wonder.
Wonder is first an awareness of an apparent contradiction or intellectual impasse that motivates
philosophical inquiry, and second is an appreciation for the beauty of the unmoved mover that
sustains contemplation. I argue that, according to Aristotle’s account of tragedy, both these
dimensions of wonder are analogously present in tragedy.
On my interpretation, the wonder in tragedy is the impasse that the tragic hero’s
distinguishing character trait is simultaneously a virtue and a vice. The insight compels theviewer to search for a solution in order to undermine the contradiction. The solution for Aristotle
is that virtue and happiness are internal moral states rather than external goods, an insight that
follows from the instability of external goods as displayed in tragedy and the assumption that
happiness is stable. Aristotle associates this assumption with tragedy in Nicomachean Ethics
I.10. The insight is valuable for the classical Greek mind, which inherits the Homeric tendency
to identify virtue and happiness with the external goods of political status and wealth. The
conclusion is that, according to Aristotle’s thought, tragedy contributes to the audience’s
recognition of the moral and ethical dimension of human nature.