V. Hösle, Die Rangordnung der drei griechischen Tragiker: ein Problem aus der Geschichte der Poetik als Lackmustest ästhetischer Theorien - Theatre and Performance

French Literature Reviews - 2026

V. Hösle, Die Rangordnung der drei griechischen Tragiker: ein Problem aus der Geschichte der Poetik als Lackmustest ästhetischer Theorien
Theatre and Performance

Vittorio Hösle, Die Rangordnung der drei griechischen Tragiker: ein Problem aus der Geschichte der Poetik als Lackmustest ästhetischer Theorien. Basel: Schwabe Verlag, coll. "Jacob Burckhardt-Gespräche auf Castelen" 24, 2009. 121 p.

  • € 10.00 (pb).
  • ISBN 9783796526190.

Publisher's overview:

The title of my treatise may seem startling: How can the specific problem of the literary evaluation of three poets shed light on the deep structure of an aesthetic theory? And yet, in aesthetics, much like in ethics and political philosophy, judgments on concrete entities are partly the expression of fundamental decisions, while at the same time they have repeatedly forced revisions at the foundational level. For as much as the feeling of encountering aesthetic perfection exerts a uniquely sweet power, the mere facticity of artistic enjoyment remains too blunt for us as thinking beings; we want to understand why we feel the way we do, and we also want to comprehend why people who feel differently than we do disagree with our artistic judgments.

Vittorio Hösle, born in Milan in 1960, earned his doctorate at the age of 21 after studying philosophy, history of science, classical Greek, and Indology, and completed his habilitation in philosophy in Tübingen at the age of 25. Following various positions in New York, Essen, and Hanover, he has been teaching at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana (USA) since 1999. Hösle is the author of numerous books on German idealism, the history of philosophy, discourse ethics, and practical philosophy.

The evaluation of classical authors has long served as a focal point in the history of poetics, reflecting broader shifts in critical theory and philosophical inquiry. Discussions surrounding canonical ranking often reveal the underlying assumptions of different aesthetic traditions, particularly regarding how concrete artistic experiences relate to overarching systems of thought. Within the German academic and philosophical landscape, the interrogation of such literary hierarchies has frequently been used to test the limits and coherence of formal aesthetic frameworks, bridging the gap between immediate reception and systematic reflection on artistic value.

Readers interested in the history of poetics and philosophical approaches to classical literature may find this publication relevant. Vittorio Hösle examines the literary evaluation of three Greek tragedians as a test case for aesthetic theories. The volume is part of the Jacob Burckhardt-Gespräche auf Castelen series, which has traditionally hosted inquiries into cultural history, art, and philosophy.