応募論文
「悲劇の定義」の規範性
『詩学』主要部の議論構造をめぐって
2016 年 2016 巻 67 号 p. 247-261
詳細
2016 年 2016 巻 67 号 p. 247-261
At the beginning of the Poetics Ch.6, Aristotle prefaces the definition of tragedy with the words, ‘let us take up the definition of tragedy’s essence resulting from what has been said so far’. The definition actually gives ‘imitation’ as the genus and three differentiae (means, object, form) that are all derived from arguments in Ch.1-3. However, ‘the catharsis-clause’, which constitutes the last part of the definition, contains some freshly introduced words such as catharsis, pity and fear. The interpretation of this clause has been problematic. While some interpreters find this clause dubious and insist that it should be omitted from the definition, others claimthese new ideas have their origins in arguments in Ch.4-5. This paper investigates another interpretation based on an examination of the structure of the Poetics’ main arguments.
The clue to solving the problem is that the catharsis-clause, which has ‘evoking pity and fear’ as its core, represents the function of tragedy. According to Aristotle’s theory of natural beings, all such things are defined in terms of their function or potency, by which they may be judged excellent or not. In Ch.4, he posits that poetry— including tragedy— is a product of natural generation, like an animal. Therefore, a definition of the essence of tragedy cannot be completely embodied by genus and differentiae alone; its function is an essential constituent of the definition. This is why the catharsis-clause and the part signifying completeness of story as well are freshly introduced into the definition, which becomes in turn the starting point for the deductive and prescriptive arguments in Ch.6-14. Thus the definition, since it includes the function of tragedy, has prescriptiveness in the sense that it indicates what excellent tragedies are. Further, the arguments in Ch.4-5 provide a causal explanation for the natural generation of poetry according to Aristotle's method of research into natural beings, even though they do not enter the definition explicitly.
