ABSTRACT
Tragedy is thought to be the most closely aligned with the discipline of philosophy of all the dramatic genres. It concerns the production of knowledge and the human limits to its acquisition, and also with questions of politics, ethics and spirituality. In The Philosophy of Fine Art, Hegel perceived drama generally as having 'to exhibit situations and the spiritual atmosphere that belongs to them as definitely motivated by the individual character, who is charged with specific aims, and which makes these an effective part of the practical content of its volitional self-identity'. In his affirmation that 'the true theme of primitive tragedy is godlike', Hegel is concerned to emphasise the ethical content of tragic form. In his essay 'Hegel's Theory of Tragedy', A. C. Bradley offers a partial interpretation of this position, which problematises the issue of identity articulated dialectically in Hegel.
