Philosophy and Comedy
ISBN: 9780253000385
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / Indiana University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters
Subjects: Mythology Greek in literature.; Greek drama (Comedy);

Aristophanes' comedies have stood the test of time as some of the greatest comic literature ever produced. While there have been numerous commentaries on Aristophanes and his world, until now there has been no systematic philosophical treatment of his comedies. In Philosophy and Comedy, Bernard Freydberg illuminates the philosophical insights in Aristophanes' texts by presenting close readings of Clouds, Wasps, Assemblywomen, and Lysistrata, addressing their comic genius at the same time. Freydberg challenges notions that philosophy is best served by a tragic disposition and arrives at a new assessment of the philosophical importance of comedy.


Bernard Freydberg is Research Professor of Philosophy at Koç University, Istanbul. He is author of Imagination in Kant's Critique of Practical Reason (IUP, 2005).

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