ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to the paradox of tragedy, followed by a thought experiment. It is followed by a short discussion and then a series of questions. Tragedy and the value of its art have fascinated philosophers for as long as there has been tragedy. Eighteenth-century writers such as David Hume and Edmund Burke also wrote about the philosophical problems concerning tragedy. One of their central focuses was on what has been called the paradox of tragedy. The thought experiment presents a case of a person who explains about the experience of him on watching the play King Lear. The questions are intended to get the philosophy students thinking about the problems. They have used these kinds of questions in seminars as the questions set for seminars. The chapter also gives a cursory sketch of some of the ways in which philosophers have responded to the thought experiment.
