Deck 9: Aristotle Tragedy

Question 1

Aristotle says, "Tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities; for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and these, ______________________, are the two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions again all success or failure depends."

A) thought and character
B) honesty and truth
C) courage and foresight
D) strength and perseverance

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Aristotle tells us that "the plot is the imitation of the ________; by 'plot,' I here mean the arrangement of the incidents."

A) method
B) action
C) thoughts
D) style

Answer 2

B

Question 3

For Aristotle, "that in virtue of which we ascribe certain qualities to the agents" is called ...

A) rationalization.
B) psychology.
C) intuition.
D) character.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

According to Aristotle, "But most important of all is the structure of the incidents. For tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an _______ and of life."

A) icon
B) essay
C) action
D) image

Question 5

According to Aristotle, "A beginning is that which does not itself follow anything by ________________, but after which something naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the contrary, is that which itself naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule, but has nothing following it."

A) logical deduction
B) causal necessity
C) the Will of God
D) the poet's ideas

Question 6

Aristotle says, "Unity of plot does not, as some persons think, consist in the unity of the _______. For infinitely various are the incidents in one man's life which cannot be reduced to unity; and so, too, there are many actions of one man out of which we cannot make one action."

A) hero
B) script
C) mind
D) events

Question 7

Aristotle says, "It is, moreover, evident from what has been said, that it is not the function of the poet to relate what has happened, but _______________, what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity."

A) what will happen
B) what will not happen
C) what may happen
D) what should happen

Question 8

According to Aristotle, poetry is "a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the __________, history the __________."

A) emotions; resolution
B) universal; particular
C) thoughts; characters
D) impulses; outcomes

Question 9

Aristotle says, "tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring ..."

A) anger and hostility.
B) justice and honesty.
C) elation or charity.
D) fear or pity.

Question 10

Aristotle says, "Tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities; for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and these, courage and foresight, are the two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions again all success or failure depends."

Question 11

Aristotle tells us that "the plot is the imitation of the action; by 'plot,' I here mean the arrangement of the incidents."

Question 12

For Aristotle, "that in virtue of which we ascribe certain qualities to the agents" is called character.

Question 13

According to Aristotle, "But most important of all is the structure of the incidents. For tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an image and of life."

Question 14

According to Aristotle, "A beginning is that which does not itself follow anything by causal necessity, but after which something naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the contrary, is that which itself naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule, but has nothing following it."

Question 15

Aristotle says, "Unity of plot does not, as some persons think, consist in the unity of the hero. For infinitely various are the incidents in one man's life which cannot be reduced to unity; and so, too, there are many actions of one man out of which we cannot make one action."

Question 16

Aristotle says, "It is, moreover, evident from what has been said, that it is not the function of the poet to relate what has happened, but what should happen, what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity."

Question 17

According to Aristotle, poetry is "a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular."

Question 18

Aristotle says, "tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear or pity."

Question 19

Aristotle says, "It is, moreover, evident from what has been said, that it is not the function of the poet to relate what has happened, but what may happen, what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity." Explain why Aristotle thinks this is important to tragedy.

Question 20

According to Aristotle, poetry is "a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular." Do you agree with Aristotle? Explain your answer.

Question 21

Explain what Aristotle means when he says, "tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear or pity."

Question 22

According to Aristotle, "But most important of all is the structure of the incidents. For tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life." Do you agree with Aristotle? Explain your answer.

Question 23

Aristotle says, "Those who employ spectacular means to create a sense not of the terrible but only of the monstrous, are strangers to the purpose of tragedy; for we must not demand of tragedy any and every kind of pleasure, but only that which is proper to it." How does this relate to movies that rely heavily on computer-generated action sequences?

Question 24

According to Bergson, "The first point to which attention should be called is that the comic does not exist outside the pale of what is strictly ________. A landscape may be beautiful, charming and sublime, or insignificant and ugly; it will never be laughable."

A) organic
B) esoteric
C) human
D) ethical

Question 25

Bergson says, "Several have defined man as 'an animal which laughs.' They might equally well have defined him as an animal which is ____________; for if any other animal, or some lifeless object, produces the same effect, it is always because of some resemblance to man, of the stamp he gives it or the use he puts it to."

A) rationalistic
B) laughed at
C) conscious
D) time trapped

Question 26

According to Bergson, "To produce the whole of its effect, then, the comical demands something like a momentary anesthesia of the heart. Its appeal is to ____________, pure and simple."

A) intelligence
B) our vanity
C) relationships
D) ego worship

Question 27

Bergson says, "To understand laughter, we must put it back into its natural environment, which is ________, and above all must we determine the utility of its function, which is a social one."

A) the mind
B) ethics
C) reason
D) society

Question 28

Bergson says, "Society will therefore be suspicious of all _____________ of character, of mind and even of body, because it is the possible sign of a slumbering activity as well as of an activity with separatist tendencies, that inclines to swerve from the common center round which society gravitates: in short, because it is the sign of an eccentricity."

A) inelasticity
B) sensations
C) perceptions
D) deviations

Question 29

Bergson makes it clear that laughter must be a sort of ...

A) repression.
B) social gesture.
C) aggression.
D) irrationality.

Question 30

According to Bergson, "The first point to which attention should be called is that the comic does not exist outside the pale of what is strictly esoteric. A landscape may be beautiful, charming and sublime, or insignificant and ugly; it will never be laughable."

Question 31

Bergson says, "Several have defined man as 'an animal which laughs.' They might
equally well have defined him as an animal which is time trapped; for if any other animal, or
some lifeless object, produces the same effect, it is always because of some resemblance to man,
of the stamp he gives it or the use he puts it to."

Question 32

According to Bergson, "To produce the whole of its effect, then, the comical demands something like a momentary anesthesia of the heart. Its appeal is to ego worship, pure and simple."

Question 33

Bergson says, "To understand laughter, we must put it back into its natural environment, which is society, and above all must we determine the utility of its function, which is a social one."

Question 34

Bergson says, "Society will therefore be suspicious of all inelasticity of character, of mind and even of body, because it is the possible sign of a slumbering activity as well as of an activity with separatist tendencies, that inclines to swerve from the common center round which society gravitates: in short, because it is the sign of an eccentricity."

Question 35

Bergson makes it clear that laughter must be a sort of social gesture.

Question 36

According to Bergson, "To produce the whole of its effect, then, the comical demands something like a momentary anesthesia of the heart. Its appeal is to intelligence, pure and simple." Do you agree with Bergson? Explain your answer.

Question 37

Bergson says, "To understand laughter, we must put it back into its natural environment, which is society, and above all must we determine the utility of its function, which is a social one." Do you agree with Bergson? Explain your answer.

Question 38

Explain what Bergson means when he says, "Society will therefore be suspicious of all inelasticity of character, of mind and even of body, because it is the possible sign of a slumbering activity as well as of an activity with separatist tendencies, that inclines to swerve from the common center round which society gravitates: in short, because it is the sign of an eccentricity."

Question 39

Explain what Bergson means when he says that "laughter must be a sort of social gesture." Do you agree with Bergson? Explain your answer.

Question 40

Bergson says, "Several have defined man as 'an animal which laughs.' They might
equally well have defined him as an animal which is laughed at; for if any other animal, or
some lifeless object, produces the same effect, it is always because of some resemblance to man,
of the stamp he gives it or the use he puts it to." Do you agree with Bergson? Explain your answer.

Question 41

According to Santayana, "Psychology attempts what is perhaps impossible, namely, the anatomy of ..."

A) personality.
B) life.
C) behavior.
D) unconsciousness.

Question 42

According to Santayana, "Feelings are recognized by their ________________, and when we try to recall an emotion, we must do so by recalling the circumstances in which it occurred."

A) inner expression
B) outer expression
C) finite existence
D) fleeting existence

Question 43

Santayana says that we can "distinguish the material of things from the various forms it may successively assume; we can distinguish, also, the earlier and the later impressions made by the same object; and we can ascertain the coexistence of one impression with another, or with the memory of others. But aesthetic feeling itself has _________, and this physiology of its causes is not a description of its proper nature."

A) regulation
B) temporality
C) a heart
D) no parts

Question 44

According to Santayana, "Beauty as we feel it is something ______________: what it is or what it means can never be said."

A) indescribable
B) extemporaneous
C) akin to matter
D) unforgettable

Question 45

Santayana says, "Beauty exists for the same reason that the object which is beautiful exists, or the world in which that object lies, or we that look upon both. It is ______________: there is nothing more to say about it."

A) an organism
B) an experience
C) a creation
D) a mechanism

Question 46

Santayana says, "But we-the minds that ask all questions and judge of the validity of all answers-we are not ourselves ____________ of this world in which we live. We sprang from it, and our relations in it determine all our instincts and satisfactions."

A) participants
B) conspirators
C) independent
D) temporally

Question 47

According to Santayana, "If our spontaneous thoughts came to run in harmony with the course of nature, if our expectations were then continually fulfilled, the sense of mystery would ..."

A) ignite.
B) flourish.
C) be understood.
D) vanish.

Question 48

According to Santayana, "Beauty therefore seems to be the clearest manifestation of ___________, and the best evidence of its possibility."

A) perfection
B) spirituality
C) mindfulness
D) humanity

Question 49

According to Santayana, "Psychology attempts what is perhaps impossible, namely, the anatomy of life."

Question 50

According to Santayana, "Feelings are recognized by their fleeting existence, and when we try to recall an emotion, we must do so by recalling the circumstances in which it occurred."

Question 51

Santayana says that we can "distinguish the material of things from the various forms it may successively assume; we can distinguish, also, the earlier and the later impressions made by the same object; and we can ascertain the coexistence of one impression with another, or with the memory of others. But aesthetic feeling itself has temporality, and this physiology of its causes is not a description of its proper nature."

Question 52

According to Santayana, "Beauty as we feel it is something indescribable: what it is or what it means can never be said."

Question 53

Santayana says, "Beauty exists for the same reason that the object which is beautiful exists, or the world in which that object lies, or we that look upon both. It is a mechanism: there is nothing more to say about it."

Question 54

Santayana says, "But we-the minds that ask all questions and judge of the validity of all answers-we are not ourselves independent of this world in which we live. We sprang from it, and our relations in it determine all our instincts and satisfactions."

Question 55

According to Santayana, "If our spontaneous thoughts came to run in harmony with the course of nature, if our expectations were then continually fulfilled, the sense of mystery would flourish."

Question 56

According to Santayana, "Beauty therefore seems to be the clearest manifestation of humanity, and the best evidence of its possibility."

Question 57

Explain what Santayana means when he says, "But we-the minds that ask all questions and judge of the validity of all answers-we are not ourselves independent of this world in which we live. We sprang from it, and our relations in it determine all our instincts and satisfactions." Do you agree with Santayana? Explain your answer.

Question 58

Explain what Santayana means when he says, "If our spontaneous thoughts came to run in harmony with the course of nature, if our expectations were then continually fulfilled, the sense of mystery would vanish." Do you agree with Santayana? Explain your answer.

Question 59

Explain what Santayana means when he says, "Beauty therefore seems to be the clearest manifestation of perfection, and the best evidence of its possibility." Do you agree with Santayana? Explain your answer

Question 60

Explain what Santayana means when he says, "Beauty as we feel it is something indescribable: what it is or what it means can never be said." Do you think that beauty can be described? Explain your answer.

Question 61

Explain what Santayana means when he says, "Beauty exists for the same reason that the object which is beautiful exists, or the world in which that object lies, or we that look upon both. It is an experience: there is nothing more to say about it." Do you agree with Santayana? Explain your answer.

Question 62

Schopenhauer says that "all the arts speak only the naive and childish language of perception, not the abstract and serious language of ___________; their answer is therefore a fleeting image: not permanent and general knowledge."

A) metaphysics
B) ontology
C) reflection
D) prescription

Question 63

Schopenhauer says, "Thus all the other arts hold up to the questioner a perceptible image, and say, 'Look here, this is life.' Their answer, however correct it may be, will yet always afford merely a temporary, not a complete and final, satisfaction. For they always give merely a fragment, an example instead of the rule, not the whole, which can only be given in the universality of the ..."

A) organism.
B) conception.
C) spirit.
D) eternal.

Question 64

Schopenhauer says, "Every work of art accordingly really aims at showing us life and things as they are in ______, but cannot be directly discerned by every one through the mist of objective and subjective contingencies."

A) truth
B) vitro
C) spirit
D) time

Question 65

Schopenhauer says, "The cooperation of the beholder, which is referred to above, as demanded for the enjoyment of a work of art, depends partly upon the fact that every work of art can only produce its effect through the medium of the fancy; therefore it must excite this, and can never allow it to be left out of the play and remain inactive. This is a condition of the __________ effect, and therefore a fundamental law of all fine arts."

A) logical
B) residual
C) scientific
D) aesthetic

Question 66

Schopenhauer says, "From the fundamental aesthetical law we are speaking of, it is further to be explained why wax figures never produce an aesthetic effect, and therefore are not properly works of fine art, although it is just in them that the imitation of nature is able to reach its highest grade. For they leave nothing for the ..."

A) posterity of mankind.
B) imagination to do.
C) historian to interpret.
D) scientist to investigate.

Question 67

Schopenhauer says that "all the arts speak only the naive and childish language of perception, not the abstract and serious language of ontology; their answer is therefore a fleeting image: not permanent and general knowledge."

Question 68

Schopenhauer says, "Thus all the other arts hold up to the questioner a perceptible image, and say, 'Look here, this is life.' Their answer, however correct it may be, will yet always afford merely a temporary, not a complete and final, satisfaction. For they always give merely a fragment, an example instead of the rule, not the whole, which can only be given in the universality of the conception."

Question 69

Schopenhauer says, "Every work of art accordingly really aims at showing us life and things as they are in vitro, but cannot be directly discerned by every one through the mist of objective and subjective contingencies."

Question 70

Schopenhauer says, "The cooperation of the beholder, which is referred to above, as demanded for the enjoyment of a work of art, depends partly upon the fact that every work of art can only produce its effect through the medium of the fancy; therefore it must excite this, and can never allow it to be left out of the play and remain inactive. This is a condition of the aesthetic effect, and therefore a fundamental law of all fine arts."

Question 71

Schopenhauer says, "From the fundamental aesthetical law we are speaking of, it is further to be explained why wax figures never produce an aesthetic effect, and therefore are not properly works of fine art, although it is just in them that the imitation of nature is able to reach its highest grade. For they leave nothing for the historian to interpret."

Question 72

Explain what Schopenhauer means when he says, "all the arts speak only the naive and childish language of perception, not the abstract and serious language of reflection; their answer is therefore a fleeting image: not permanent and general knowledge." Do you agree with Schopenhauer?

Question 73

Explain what Schopenhauer means when he says, "Thus all the other arts hold up to the questioner a perceptible image, and say, 'Look here, this is life.' Their answer, however correct it may be, will yet always afford merely a temporary, not a complete and final, satisfaction. For they always give merely a fragment, an example instead of the rule, not the whole, which can only be given in the universality of the conception." Do you agree with Schopenhauer?

Question 74

Explain what Schopenhauer means when he says, "Every work of art accordingly really aims at showing us life and things as they are in truth, but cannot be directly discerned by every one through the mist of objective and subjective contingencies."

Question 75

Explain what Schopenhauer means when he says, "The cooperation of the beholder, which is referred to above, as demanded for the enjoyment of a work of art, depends partly upon the fact that every work of art can only produce its effect through the medium of the fancy; therefore it must excite this, and can never allow it to be left out of the play and remain inactive. This is a condition of the aesthetic effect, and therefore a fundamental law of all fine arts."

Question 76

Explain what Schopenhauer means when he says, "From the fundamental aesthetical law we are speaking of, it is further to be explained why wax figures never produce an aesthetic effect, and therefore are not properly works of fine art, although it is just in them that the imitation of nature is able to reach its highest grade. For they leave nothing for the imagination to do."

Question 77

Thomasson says, "As I shall understand it here, the ___________________ of a work of art is fundamentally fixed by its existence, identity, and persistence conditions; these fix what category of object it is."

A) ontological status
B) social dimensions
C) epistemological limit
D) ramified version

Question 78

Thomasson says that "the purpose of this paper is to discuss an interesting consequence . . . namely, that there is ______________ to the question of the ontological status of a work of art."

A) an ethical aspect
B) a logical aspect
C) no set answer
D) one final answer

Question 79

Thomasson tells us that "Showing how works of art of ontologically new kinds can be introduced is itself revealing, as it once again will give support to the general idea that such facts as there are about the ontological status of works of art are, at bottom, determined by ..."

A) specialists trained in aesthetic appreciation.
B) human intentions and practices.
C) written guidelines set by recognized artists.
D) a government code of authenticity.

Question 80

Thomasson tells us that "I have argued elsewhere that the ontological status of paintings, sculptures, symphonies and other familiar kinds of art is at bottom established ______________ by the beliefs and practices of those who ground and reground the reference of the relevant sortal terms."

A) randomly
B) uniformly
C) spontaneously
D) stipulatively