Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Other Classics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Xavier University

Philosophy

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Other Classics

Humanity And Nature: From Vergil To Modernity, Aaron Ticknor Apr 2022

Humanity And Nature: From Vergil To Modernity, Aaron Ticknor

Honors Bachelor of Arts

Though ecology is a relatively new field of study, the human relationship to nature has shifted and changed throughout history. In antiquity, it has been understood by scholarly consensus that there was a more general understanding of nature as a living force with spirit, for example the Roman animist concept of numen, and humanity being one with nature. In modernity, however, under the influence of Rene Descartes and Francis Bacon, nature is seen as completely separate from humanity and devoid of any value beyond the economic value of resources. Later philosophers such as Nietzsche lamented this shift, advocating for …


Combat Trauma And Tragic Catharsis: An Aristotelian Account Of Tragedy And Trauma, Edward J. Hoffmann Jan 2016

Combat Trauma And Tragic Catharsis: An Aristotelian Account Of Tragedy And Trauma, Edward J. Hoffmann

Honors Bachelor of Arts

This essay argues that the Greeks experienced and understood combat trauma, and that they used tragedy and the catharsis that it effected as a means of restoring the order of souls traumatized in war. Our examination of the horrors of hoplite warfare should leave us with no question that ancient warfare was no more clean, decent, or glorious than modern war. To treat the trauma induced those horrors, the Greeks did indeed practice certain societal mechanisms, which our own society seems to so sadly lack. One of these was Attic tragedy. Certain of the tragedies explicitly speak to military experience, …