Tragedy and Justice in the German Tradition

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What makes a law just? When should we obey - or resist - authority? How do societies confront violence, guilt, and responsibility? To answer such questions, German arts and philosophy have frequently drawn from the tradition of Greek tragedy, which they have reinterpreted for their times. This discussion-based seminar investigates how German writers and thinkers have turned to the Western tragic tradition to wrestle with questions of justice. Authors include Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristotle, Schiller, Hegel, Kleist, Brecht, Arendt, and Jelinek. No prior background in German or theater is required - only curiosity about how art and ideas help us think through real-world ethical dilemmas.