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Katharsis

DOI
10.4324/9780415249126-A063-1
DOI: 10.4324/9780415249126-A063-1
Version: v1,  Published online: 1998
Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/katharsis/v-1

Article Summary

One of the central concepts of Aristotle’s Poetics, katharsis (’purgation’ or ‘purification’; often spelled catharsis) defines the goal of the tragic poet: by depiction of human vicissitudes so to provoke the spectators’ feelings of pity and fear that such emotions in them are finally purged.

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Citing this article:
Most, Glenn W.. Katharsis, 1998, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-A063-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/katharsis/v-1.
Copyright © 1998-2024 Routledge.

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